We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.

Unsubscribe any time.

FRIDAY

FotoWeekDC kicks off its fourth iteration tonight with some scene-y parties. There’s a preview at the vacated Borders location, dubbed FotoWeek Central, and a dance party at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. But if you’re not the mingling type, there’s plenty of exhibits, including “Ocean Soul: Photographs by Brian Skerry” (an excerpt pictured at right) at National Geographic and documentary-heavy photo curation and events at FotoWeek Central. The FotoWeek D.C. launch party begins at 5 p.m. at FotoWeek Central, 1800 L St. NW; the dance party begins at 8:30 p.m. at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW. $55 for both events.

The Book Club Play gets meta at Arena Stage. Says Rebecca J. Ritzel, “What we are watching is a play about a book club that’s being filmed for a documentary about book clubs. Our hostess is Ana Smith, a newspaper columnist who fulfills every stereotype in the book about literature snobs. The menagerie of bibliophiles that Smith invites over to discuss the classics don’t break any new ground in terms of character development, but the cast has comic acting chops, and there’s plenty of humor in the obvious. Cue the phallic Moby Dick jokes. The play begins at 8 p.m. at Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SE, Washington, D.C. $95. (202) 488-3300.

SATURDAY

If you’re looking for a rapid-paced, thrilling zombie story, then Colson Whitehead’s Zone One may not be for you. In his latest novel, the author keeps the chills at arm’s length in favor of a Whiteheadian dive into metaphor. Just as his debut The Intuitionist is about elevators, and also about race, and also about gender, and still not about any of those things, Zone One’s narrator Mark Spitz is nearly unknowable until the end, and zombies stand in for all the people you think you know but ultimately don’t know at all. In a story that spans three days, a single detail is stretched like ribbon candy that curls into more and more information until you arrive at its point—which, again, may not be the point at all. Patience is required, but the tale is worth the wait. Whitehead discusses and signs his book at 1 p.m. at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free. (202) 364-1919. (Shani Hilton)

Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers, Jon McLaughlin, and Deep River perform at 9:30 Club. You only need to be about 50 percent maudlin; Kellogg is folky, but comparatively upbeat and quite good for singalongs. The show begins at 6:30 p.m. at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $20. (202) 265-0930.

SUNDAY

Berlin/San Francisco-based artist Kermit Berg‘s busy, noisy reflections of Tokyo as presented in “Tokyo Night Office” echo public space, neon lights, and this year’s manmade and natural disasters in Japan. The exhibition is on view noon to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays to Nov. 20 at Gallery plan b, 1530 14th St. NW. Free. (202) 234-2711.

The Misfits—yeah, you’ve got that black T-shirt with the skull on it shoved in a plastic storage bin somewhere, too, don’t you?—play Jaxx with Juicehead, Pharmacist, Pain, Stitch The Lids, and Idol Minds. Long live horror punk, I suppose. The show begins at 5:30 p.m. at Jaxx, 6355 Rolling Rd., Springfield. $23-25. (703) 569-5940