Ernest Hemingway was a megalomaniac. We know this from Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris flick. Hemingway was also suffered from depression, and ultimately committed suicide at the age of 61. There has been much written about this great American writer, but not through the sensibility of his wife or lover - until Paula McLain's novel, The Paris Wife, which captures the love affair between Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. McLain paints a real sense of their daily life - Hemingway's charisma, genius, stinginess and cruelty that apparently could erupt with no warning - and the citizens of Pierce County know this. For the past two months, thousands have been reading the book as part of the Pierce County READS program. Friday, McLain will drop in on the Lakewood community to discuss the book, and the life of the famous couple.

PAULA MCLAIN, 7 p.m., McGavick Conference Center, Clover Park Technical College, 4500 Steilacoom Blvd. SW, Lakewood, 253.589.5783