Not even the fastest speed-reader can attend all of the events at the Brooklyn Book Festival, so we’ve compiled this handy cheat sheet to highlight the really good stuff (though for a full schedule and complete list of authors, visit www.brooklynbookfestival.org). Events are free, but tickets must be picked up at least one hour in advance:

Updike and Foster Wallace remembered

In the wake of the deaths of literary legends John Updike and David Foster Wallace, writers and book critics Lev Grossman and David Lipsky — author of a forthcoming book on Wallace — will discuss their similarities, differences, and lasting influence.

Borough Hall Courtroom (209 Joralemon St. between Court and Adams streets in Downtown), 10 am. Free.

Written music

Sonic Youth rocker Thurston Moore will chat with rapper Lupe Fiasco and poets Tracy Morris and Matthew Zapruder about the ways that poetry and songwriting have transformed language — moderated by Brooklyn luminary Touré.

St. Francis Auditorium (180 Remsen St. between Court and Clinton streets), noon. Free.

Edwidge Danticat

Haitian-born writer Danticat — whose prose will be honored with a “Best of Brooklyn” award at the festival — will read and discuss how history and culture have influenced her short stories, novels, and memoir.

St. Francis Auditorium (see venue info above), 2 pm. Free.

Three’s company

Fiction phenoms Paul Auster, Russell Banks and Francine Prose will read from their works in an event aptly titled “Literary Masters.”

St. Francis Auditorium (see venue info above), 3 pm. Free.

Cook books

Famed foodies including New York Times scribe Jennifer 8. Lee, Mark Kurlansky and Liz Thorpe will talk about all things edible in a discussion titled “American Food.”

North Stage in Borough Hall Plaza (Court Street at Montague Street), 3 pm. Free.

Good teen lit

Park Slope teen-lit queen Libba Bray (“Going Bovine,” and the Gemma Doyle trilogy) will headline a reading called “High School and the Paranormal” featuring Carolyn MacCullough (“Once a Witch”) and Claudia Gray (“Evernight Series”). As Bray’s new book, “Going Bovine,” shows, high schoolers have far more to worry about than acne and who to take to the school dance.

Youth Stoop in Borough Hall Plaza (see venue info above), 5 pm. Free.

Happy Ending

The always entertaining Happy Ending music and reading series makes a cameo at the Book Festival with an all star line-up featuring self-deprecating scribe Jonathan Ames, comic David Cross and acclaimed novelist Rakesh Satyal.

Main Stage in Borough Hall Plaza (see venue info above), 5 pm. Free.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group