Luis Urrea, the accomplished author of nine books of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, is reading from his most recent best-seller, "The Devil's Highway." Based upon a true story, the book is about a group of Mexican men who died while attempting to cross the border into the desert of southern Arizona in May 2001. Out of 26 men, only 12 survived the grueling journey. Urrea's well-crafted book exposes the backward politics of the U.S. and Mexico's border policies and immigrant laws. (Tues., 8 p.m., Amherst Books, 8 Main St. No admission charge.)

Come listen to an eclectic group of jazz musicians at the Five College Jazz Festival. This concert will feature jazz ensembles from Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Amherst and Williams Colleges and UMass. (Fri., 7 p.m., Buckley Recital Hall; Sat., 1:30 p.m., UMass Fine Arts Center Room 44; Sun., 7 p.m., Keefe Campus Center Frontroom. Contact 542-8308 for more information.)

The Smith College Music Department presents pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee performing new works by prize-winning composers Phillippe Bodin and Tom Flaherty. Lee has performed in a variety of places around the world including China, Brazil, New York and Bulgaria. Bodin is a French composer from New York and Flaherty has won prestigious awards, grants and prizes from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. (Sat., 8 p.m., Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College. No admission charge.)

The German Department is sponsoring the presentation of the first science fiction film, "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang. This movie takes place in a futuristic city in 2026, one-hundred years after the movie's filming. The city is maintained by workers enslaved underground. Born in Austria, Lang's knowledge for art and architecture is applied very creatively and fantastically in the distorted cityscapes of "Metropolis." (Thurs., 4 p.m., Stirn Auditorium. No admission charge.)

Editors' DVD Pick of the Week

Everyone remembers his or her first love, but very few movies are able to capture this irreplaceable connection between two people as well as "The Notebook." Filmed along the beautiful marshes and beaches of Charleston, S.C., this movie is not only among the best romances of our generation but is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing movies of the year. The two main characters, Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) and Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), are "crazy in love" with each other. This pure youthful romance comes to an abrupt halt when Allie's parents show their disapproval of Noah's low income job as a lumber worker. After the couple splits up, Allie's mother hides a year's worth of letters from Noah and Allie falls in love with a wealthy soldier. After seven years apart, Allie and Noah reunite and rekindle their love.