Taylor Branch coming to the Pratt

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch, who lives right here in Baltimore of course, will be at the Central Library Thursday night to discuss his behemoth of a book, "The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President."

(The evening is an installment of the library's Writers Live series, with upcoming authors including Sheila Kast, Michael Salcman, Jon Franklin and Terry Teachout.)

"The Clinton Tapes" is the result of seven years worth of conversations with President Bill Clinton, during which they discussed everything from Kosovo to Monica Lewinsky. And Thursday evening, you'll be treated to Branch's reactions and observations during these talks, leading to what is sure to be an unusually intimate account of a man who led our country for eight years.

And I hear the guy's pretty knowledgeable about Martin Luther King Jr., too.