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FRIDAY

Full disclosure: Jonetta Rose Barras has worked at Washington City Paper on and off over the past few years. She runs the place when she is here and complains bitterly about it when she is not. In between cranking out features for City Paper and a weekly column for the Washington Times, Barras has written a doozy of a book: The Last of the Black Emperors: The Hollow Comeback of Marion Barry in the New Age of Black Leaders. Serendipity prevailed, and Barry stepped down the week Barras’ book hit the streets. The book received a big ride locally on the strength of allegations that Barry had some bumps in his road to recovery and has an even more complicated sexual history than has been reported. Throughout the book, Barras uses motifs from African folklore to explain why Marion Barry never became the leader the District pined for. The Last of the Black Emperors and the author are full of well-documented opinions and abundant attitude. Show up for your share of both at 12:30 p.m. at Reprint Books, 455 L’Enfant Plaza SW,

(202) 554-5070. Free. (202) 727-1213. (David Carr)