Why Him?

People who read the recent New Yorker profile of Alec Baldwin, which essentially outlined the actor's persecution complex, seemed to have one of two reactions. Some dismissed it with something along the lines of, "Christ! What an asshole!" Others, however, thought Baldwin came off as a man who had been dented, if not crushed, by the system. Tonight, Baldwin reads from A Promise to Ourselves, essentially a book-length rant about that system. After he and Kim Basinger divorced in 2001, the couple began a protracted child custody battle, which resulted in a tape of a shouting, insult-laden phone message Baldwin left for his daughter becoming public. His subsequent efforts to comply with the demands of family court verged on Herculean -- at least in his eyes. Tonight, the 30 Rock star reads from his book and discusses the legal and emotional ins and outs of child custody.
Mon., Sept. 22, 6 p.m., 2008