Wil Haygood discusses his new book “The Butler: A Witness to History” as well as the upcoming film, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” based on Haygood’s writings about White House butler Eugene Allen, at Politics and Prose tonight.

Haygood, whose Washington Post article in 2008 about Allen set much of the current book and movie in motion, is on a publicity jag, and it’s nice to see him spend the day the book is released at the hometown book shop.

Over the weekend, the Washington Post Magazine ran a front-pager from him about his experience translating the story to book form, to seeing it on film. The movie has some serious star power, with Forest Whitaker in the titular role, as well as Oprah Winfrey, Lenny Kravitz and Terrence Howard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2sCzh_Z3yI

The movie is set for release on Aug. 16. Some of the fun from the movie will come from seeing what some of Hollywood’s biggest names do with their parts as White House occupants: Robin Williams (Dwight Eisenhower), John Cusack (Richard Nixon), Liev Schrieber (Lyndon Johnson), Jane Fonda (Nancy Reagan) and Alan Rickman (Ronald Reagan), among others.

Haygood goes on at 7 p.m. at 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Beer and wine are available, which is always appreciated.