Iris Chang will speak on her new book, "The Chinese in America," a moving story that spans 150 years in the lives of Chinese Americans. The book focuses on a group of brave individuals working to make it in a strange land and examines, among other things, the meaning of being an American. Chang herself is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and the author of "The Rape of Nanking," a lauded 1997 bestseller about the destruction of Nanking by the Japanese in World War II. (Fri., 7 p.m., The Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley.)

The Amherst College Jazz Ensemble will perform their Spring Concert this weekend. Joining the ensemble on guitar will be Dr. Wayne Goins, associate professor and director of jazz ensembles at Kansas State University. Together they will perform music of Goins, Ellington, Hooper, Nestico, Hampton and others. (Fri., 7 p.m., Buckley Recital Hall. For more information, visit www.amherst.edu/~jazz.)

Put your hair in pigtails, it's the Tratchenburg Family Slideshow Players. The band, whose sound has been described as "post-millenial Schoolhouse Rock," consists of two parents, their nine-year-old daughter, some assorted instruments and a slide projector. They will be joined by Langhorne Slim, who plays old-country blues with a touch of punk rock. (May 11, 7 p.m., Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton. For more information, call 586-8686.)

Students and faculty from UMass's Theater and Music & Dance Departments will present "Drums and Shadows"-Shakespeare's "Macbeth" with pre-recorded text, a percussional soundtrack and shadow puppets. According to the theater's description, the ominous tone and dark scenes in "Macbeth" "lend themselves well to the world of shadow puppetry, with its shadow and light play and sometimes sinister-looking effects." (May 9 and 10, 6:30 p.m., Rand Theater, UMass.)

For anyone who has seen "Identity" and is thirsting for more John Cusack, "High Fidelity" (based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name) is the perfect solution: 114 minutes of pure, unadulterated John Cusack. Cusack has almost no offscreen time as Rob, a downbeat record store owner trying to woo back his ex-girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle). But the best thing about this movie isn't Cusack; it's that it's so honest it almost hurts. Rob and Laura are distinctly unmagical people caught in an unmagical relationship that reminds us of-let's face it-our own relationships.