DAVID KESSLER Some of the world's sharpest minds, including a Nobel Prize winner, a former FDA commissioner, an international mentalist, and a world renowned philosopher, will appear at this year's Blank Rome Festival of Arts Books and Culture of the Katz JCC, being held Saturday, Nov. 7 through Sunday, Nov. 15.

Paul Krugman, a 2008 Nobel Prize winner, is considered among the 50 most influential economists in the world today. Krugman will discuss his latest book, "The Return of the Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008," which examines the conditions that led up to the current financial crisis and will provide insight into the steps that must be taken to turn around a world economy sliding into a deep recession.

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler, who left the FDA to become the dean of the Yale Medical School, will discuss his New York Times best seller "The End of Overeating." Kessler highlights the amount of fat, salt and sugar in the foods we eat and asserts that this trio of elements in restaurant and processed foods conditions us to eat more. He stresses that this outcome of lifelong obesity is not genetic but environmental and avoidable.

PETER SINGER The Festival will also feature Israeli Ehud Segev (aka The Mentalizer), a world-renowned super mentalist who performs his shows in theaters and on TV. Segev is known for his appearance on the primetime NBC hit "Phenomenon" with Criss Angel and Uri Geller. He also stunned New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg when he bent a spoon in his hands.

Australian born Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, is considered one of the foremost living

philosophers and Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World." Singer's latest book, "The Life You Can Save," challenges us to consider what it takes to live ethically in a world in which poverty exists unnecessarily.

Authors and topics that are the talk of the town will also be featured during the week. Award winning contemporary authors A.J Jacobs, "The Guinea Pig Diaries," Peter Manseau, "Songs for

the Butcher's Daughter," and Dara Horn, "All Other Nights," are sure to thrill with their unique style. Social critic Hal Niedzviecki explains our obsession with social networking in his new book, "The Peep Diaries," and "America's Worst Mom" Lenore Skenazy takes on "helicopter parenting" with her book "Free Range Kids." Jean Hanff Korelitz looks at the college admission process to Ivy League schools in her well-reviewed book, "Admission."

Other notable authors and entertainers appearing at this year's Festival are: Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry, "Family Meals;" Cousin Brucie Morrow, "Rock and Roll;" Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, "Kosher Sutra;" and Legends in Concert, a star-studded performance featuring a live tribute to great Jewish entertainers Neil Diamond, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, and Barbra Streisand.

Tickets are now on sale at the Katz JCC or by going to the JCC website at www.katzjcc.org. .