Books
Christian Winn
Naked Me collects new stories from the Boise, Idaho writer. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Friday, August 29, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Susan Carr The local voice teacher and writer shares from The Ballad of Desiree and performs songs by Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, and Gordon Lightfoot. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 free Friday, August 29, 2014, 7 – 8:30pm
Sara Benincasa In town for Bumbershoot, the comedienne reads from her new YA novel Great. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Saturday, August 30, 2014, 5 – 6pm
Louise Penny
The Long Way Home continues her popular Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery novels. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Seattle, 98115 Free Sunday, August 31, 2014, 2 – 3pm
John Scalzi A horrible virus lays waste to mankind in his sci-fi thriller Lock In. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Wednesday, September 3, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Michael Pitre A veteran of the Iraq War, his debut novel is Fives and Twenty Fives. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Wednesday, September 3, 2014, 7 – 8pm
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Rick Perlstein How did a Republican Party that was shattered in the mid-’70s pivot toward its nearly hegemonic power today? This is the question considered in The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan (Simon & Schuster, $23.72), which Perlstein begins with Watergate and ends with President Gerald Ford’s seeming defeat of the Gipper. That was in ‘76, which we now recognize to be a springboard year that launched Carter to imminent failure and Reagan, four years later, to the White House. Whence the motivating power of the Reagan Revolution? Perlstein digs up a Ford memo calling Reagan’s supporters “highly motivated right-wing nuts.” Well, yes, but those nuts turned out to be the future of the GOP-populating think tanks, dominating talk radio, funding super-PACs, and rising from law-school professorships to the Supreme Court. Now it should be noted here that this 800-page tome from Perlstein, previously the author of Nixonland, has been cited for lifting language from other accounts; those charges come from a right-leaning historian of the Reagan era, and Perlstein does skew more left. (And he denies any plagiarism.) Also, The Invisible Bridge isn’t about tit-for-tat politics; it’s a cultural history of the roiling moment, a nation divided and unbalanced: OPEC and Patty Hearst, killer bees and Robert Altman’s Nashville, Hank Aaron’s home-run chase and Chevy Chase stumbling on SNL. If there’s a villain in the book (D.C. pundits are hit the hardest), it’s certainly not Reagan. His cheerful selling of what Perlstein calls “America the innocent” is what people wanted to hear-and what would save his party from Nixon’s cloud. BRIAN MILLER Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle $5 Wednesday, September 3, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Lois Brandt Her children’s book Maddi’s Fridge deals with hunger and sharing. University Book Store (Bellevue), 990 102nd Ave. N.E., Bellevue, WA 98004 Free Thursday, September 4, 2014, 6 – 7pm
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Jim Woodring In his new anthology JIM (Fantagraphics, $29.99), the local artist reaches back over 30 years into the phantasmagoric trove of his imagination, first manifested on paper with a 12-page zine in 1982. His is a world of everyday hallucination and unexpected transmogrification. Monsters are always at hand, woven into life’s ordinary texture (if anything can be called ordinary in Woodring’s art). Much of JIM riffs on the early reading matter of his youth, including comic books, ads, and Highlights magazine. Certain threads of autobiography are present, as we see a young artist taking classes and gathering material, gradually gaining confidence in his craft. Even so, disgust-at himself and the world in general-and self-doubt are pervasive. At one point in his misadventures, cartoon avatar Jim despairs, “I’m just a bloated bladder pulsing with appetites and shallow schemes.” Animals, including that famously quizzical, lopsided frog, are no help when they speak to cartoon Jim, who seems perpetually bedeviled, beleaguered, and forlorn. His creator, of course, is more in command of the ever-mutable situation. BRIAN MILLER University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Thursday, September 4, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Paul Roberts He’ll discuss his The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle $5 Thursday, September 4, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Parents Writing About Parenthood Brian McGuigan, Ross McMeekin, and Kristen Millares Young discuss parenting and writing. Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska St., Seattle, WA 98118 Free Saturday, September 6, 2014, 3 – 4pm
Rachel Kramer Bussel The editor of The Big Book of Orgasms and other volumes reads from those works. Center for Sex Positive Culture, 1608 15th Ave W, Seattle, WA 98119 Free Saturday, September 6, 2014, 3 – 4:30pm
Tom Cho From Australia, his new story collection is Look Who’s Morphing. He’s joined by fellow gay scribes Mattilda Bernstein (The End of San Francisco) and Chad Goller-Sojourner (Riding in Cars With Black People & Other Newly Dangerous Acts: A Memoir in Vanishing Whiteness). Local poet Imani Sims hosts the evening, and shares verse from her Beloved Collision. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Saturday, September 6, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Ann Hedreen Her caregiving memoir Her Beautiful Brain deals with her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Sunday, September 7, 2014, 3 – 4pm
Sam Hamill He shares new verse from Habitation: Collected Poems. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Sunday, September 7, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Richard Flanagan Her historical novel The Last of the Blacksmiths is set before the Civil War. Seattle Public Library, Northeast Branch, 6801 35th Ave. N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Free Monday, September 8, 2014, 6:30 – 7:30pm
Elissa Washuta She reads from My Body Is a Book of Rules and joins in a discussion with fellow locals Suzanne Morrison (Yoga Bitch) and Claire Dederer, erstwhile Seattle Weekly writer and author of the bestselling memoir Poser, also about yoga. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Monday, September 8, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Susan Szenasy The editor of Metropolis magazine discusses her Szenasy, Design Advocate with Natalia Ilyin and Thaisa Way as part of the Seattle Design Festival. Cornish College, 1001 Lenora St., Seattle, WA 98121 Free and open to the public. Monday, September 8, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Nick Bostrom This event is sold out, but you may have tickets to hear the Oxford don discuss his new Superintelligence. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle $5 Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 6 – 7pm
Richard Flanagan From distant Tasmania, he reads from his WWII-set novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Russell Hanbey He shares his experiences as a ranger in the North Cascades in Walking on Trees: Views from the Back Country. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Seattle, 98115 Free Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Randall Munroe Those who have tickets to this sold-out events will know the author of What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions from his popular blog. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle $5 Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Charles Baxter He reads from his new story collection There’s Something I Want You to Do. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $5 Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 7 – 8pm
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John W. Dean Once a member of the late, disgraced president’s inner circle, he’ll share from The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Liz Prince
Tomboy is her memoir of punk rock and gender identity. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Sarah J. Maas Her new fantasy tome is Heir of Fire. Also appearing will be Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles) and Mandy Hubbard (Fool Me Twice). Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Seattle, 98115 Free Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Franklin Veaux and Eve Ricker
More Than Two is their new polyamory guide. Foundation for Sex Positive Culture, 1608 15th Ave W, Seattle, WA 98119 Free Thursday, September 11, 2014, 6:30 – 7:30pm
Gloria DeGaetano Her parenting guide (and gun-control guide?) is Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Seattle, 98115 Free Thursday, September 11, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Justin Taylor
Flings collects his recent short stories. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Thursday, September 11, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Kiersten White and Natalie Whipple Their new magical fantasy novels are, respectively, Illusions of Fate and Transparent. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Thursday, September 11, 2014, 7 – 8pm
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George Marshall He’ll find a receptive local audience for his Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle $5 Thursday, September 11, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Vikram Chandra From India, the noted novelist shares from his new nonfiction account Geek Sublime: The Code of Beauty, the Beauty of Code. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle $5 Thursday, September 11, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30pm
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James Ellroy The lyrically profane master of crime fiction, probably now possessed of living literary icon status, reads from Perfidia, set in prewar L.A., of course. He’ll also appear at Seattle Mystery Bookshop at noon today. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Friday, September 12, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Peter May He continues his Scotland-set crime series with The Lewis Man. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Friday, September 12, 2014, 7 – 8pm
Thom Hartmann This is a fundraiser for YES! magazine, which includes a dinner banquet option. The popular liberal radio host will discuss his new The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America and What We Can Do About It. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle $20-$250 Friday, September 12, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30pm
