Things to do on Sunday: A book talk and a bluegrass band

• A book talk by Paul French at Glamour Bar: Access Asia's Paul French is a reluctant Shanghaiist reader who actually made an appearance at our recent Halloween party. Perhaps more importantly, he is an author who puts out about a book a year. His latest, Carl Crow: A Tough Old China Hand, is out now from Hong Kong University Press. He'll be talking about the book at Glamour Bar tomorrow at 4 pm. Here's a bit about the book and Mr. Crow:

The ultimate foreigner in China, businessman, journalist, entrepreneur and adventurer-at-large Carl Crow lived in Shanghai from 1911 to 1937. The author of numerous books on China, Chinese politics and doing business in Asia, his 400 Million Customers is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1937.

Admission is RMB 50 and includes one drink. We wonder if it will turn into a discussion on North Korea.

• Sparrow Quartet at Cotton Club: We waited until we got our tickets for this one before posting about it -- last year it didn't take long to sell out. Here's how they describe the show at Upcoming.org:

That’s right, the banjo-strummin’, Mandarin-speakin’, folk-music playin’ First Lady of Sino-Old-Time, Abigail Washburn will return to China for more performances, and this time, she’s got a name for the group! The Sparrow Quartet features, once again, on the fiddle, Casey Driessen, on the cello, Ben Sollee, and, on the banjo, nine time Grammy winner Béla Fleck.

Show is supposed to start around 9-ish and tickets are 100 kuai. Contact Cotton Club for details. There's no assigned seating, so be prepared to show up early -- save us a seat! If you miss the Sparrow Quartet tomorrow, they will play at JZ on Monday.

NOTE: Shanghaiist is not related to any female members of the Sparrow Quartet, as far as we know.