Thurs. Nov. 16

Say this about Laura Kipnis: The woman knows how to title a book. Previously, she wrote - and attracted a maelstrom of coverage for - "Against Love: A Polemic," which suggest adultery was a pretty good thing. Kipnis is back with "The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability." (This for some reason reminds us of the old Godfathers' song, "Birth, School, Work, Death.") An academic - a professor of media studies at Northwestern University, Kipnis is striving toward Camille Paglia territory: Smart, outspoken, sexually explicit, controversial. Take Kipnis' thoughts on the state of contemporary gender relations: "Ingrown hairs after a bad bikini wax." She also states that more unwanted sexual advances are sweeping the offices and classrooms of America. She speaks at the Harvard Book Store at 6:30 P.M. Thursday Nov. 16.

1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-661-1424 harvard.com/events/