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T H U R S D A Y

English novelist Julian Barnes has the ability to take the most dire of subjects—politics—and make it readable, compelling, and most admirably, humorous. Letters From London is a collection of idiosyncratic reports from his home country for the New Yorker. From his observations on the “austere, minimalist, post-Beckettian” sport of spectator chess to his irreverent commentary on the royal family, Barnes never fails to amuse. At 7 p.m. at Chapters, 1512 K St. NW. FREE. (202) 347-5495. (CP)