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With its massage-parlor-turned-bar setting, the Happy Ending reading series has a built-in quirk factor, but what makes it unique is host Amanda Stern's dictate that authors do more than stand at the mic and read off the page. "The series promises to highlight the personality of the author," says Stern, author of the novel The Long Haul. "It's a place for musicians and writers to upend the idea that reading series are monotonous by taking unexpected risks." Risks? Well, no one has swallowed any swords yet, but writers in seasons past have given a performative varnish to their readings with onstage antics ranging from the wacky to the personal: Danzy Senna enlisted volunteers from the audience to read aloud from the Church of Scientology's handbook, while Jonathan Ames found someone to rub his bald head while cooing, "Everything is going to be okay." Musicians face a similar requirement. "They must attempt to get the audience to sing along," Stern says.

The host's insistence that performers bare a little bit of their souls doesn't seem to be scaring anyone away, as Happy Ending kicks off its new season on Wednesday 14 with a star-studded lineup that includes Amy Hempel, James Salter, Julia Slavin and Jim Shepherd (and musical guest Sam Bisbee). Expect things to get even more personal on September 28. The theme: guilt night.—Michael Miller