LEONARD SCHLAIN
Schlain gives props to the historically undervalued fairer sex in Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Changed the Course of Human Evolution. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
* ZOè HELLER
See Stranger Suggests. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
JULIA EATON
Eaton's reading of Annabelle's Shoes will be accompanied by acoustic music and Egyptian belly dancing. Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347, 6 pm, free.
FRIDAY 9/5
PHILIP YANCEY
Rumors of Another World: What on Earth Are We Missing? is a book about God, transcendence, and the supernatural. The book invokes the thinking and writing of Eliot, Auden, Woolf, and others. University Barnes & Noble, 2700 NE University Village, 517-4107, 7 pm, free.
CHUCK PALAHNIUK
Palahniuk's last three novels--including his most recent, Diary--all seem to be a sloppy rehashes of his most famous (and famously sloppy) book, Fight Club. And yet he still draws massive crowds of (according to Salon) guys like "that strangely oversize fellow you sometimes get seated next to on airplanes or in bars, the one who loudly testifies to 'laughing my ass off' all the way through Palahniuk's 'fucking twisted' books and then glares, as if daring you to deny that such a thing is possible or that he is one dark and edgy dude." Palahniuk, impervious to bad press, remains one of the most popular pop novelists in the Northwest. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5.
SATURDAY 9/6
MEG CHITTENDEN
The author signs More Than You Know, a romantic thriller whose opening scene is set at Pike Place Market. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 177 Cherry St, 587-5737, noon, free.
MIRIAM REED
Margaret Sanger: Her Life in Her Words collects the writings (on marriage, pacifism, and other topics) of the founder of Planned Parenthood. Pacific Place Barnes & Noble, 600 Pine St, 264-0156, 1 pm, free.
JENNIFER LEO & FRIENDS
The editor of Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road, and a handful of the book's contributors, talk about panties, prudes, and prison. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 2 pm, free.
JOHN WHALEN
The poems collected in Whalen's Caliban are "poems of adroit surprise, of vivid phrase and dramatic voice," according to Robert Morgan. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
WILLIAM DIETRICH
Natural Grace: The Charm, Wonder, and Lessons of Pacific Northwest Animals and Plants is a celebration of dirt, moss, and lichen. Ravenna Third Place Books, 525-2347, 6 pm, free.
CHARLES DE LINT
The fantasy writer signs his latest, Spirits in the Wires. University of Washington, Kane Hall, Walker-Ames Room, 634-3400, 7 pm, free (tickets required).
* MATTHEW McINTOSH
Well is a dark debut novel shot through with geographic strangeness: It's a personal story placed in a sad, blank middle territory, somewhere not unlike Federal Way. David Shields describes it as a "verbally pyrotechnic, formally exciting, and emotionally devastating book. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SUNDAY 9/7
JOEL S. MIGDAL
The Palestinian People: A History begins in 1834 and covers everything from the Oslo peace process and the founding of Israel to the current intifada. Coauthor Migdal reads from the book and answers your questions about the fucked-up peace process. Ravenna Third Place Books, 525-2347, free.
* GREGORY HISCHAK
A reading of Hischak's The Center of Gravity, winner of the 2003 Hugo House New Play Competition. The play is about Wilbur and Orville Wright, and spans seven generations. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7:30 pm, $5.
MONDAY 9/8
FRED MOODY
The goofy hothead who used to be second-in-command at the Seattle Weekly (where he remains infamous for having once gotten so angry at another editor he kicked a hole in the wall) unflatteringly caricatures former coworkers and elaborates on his own wonderfulness in Seattle and the Demons of Ambition: A Love Story, a nostalgic and embarrassing book about "the splendor and potential of the Pacific Northwest." It's both a personal history of Seattle (punctuated with such historical mind-blowers as "We didn't even have email!") and a fond remembrance of his rise through the ranks of the Seattle Weekly ("I set off to wake up the city! Shake people up! Make things happen!"). Moody writes that after his time at the Weekly, he wondered: "Where does an aging alternative journalist go?" To St. Martin's Press, apparently. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30, free.
TUESDAY 9/9
RAYMOND A. WINBUSH
The author of Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations (now out in paperback) discusses his book and the issues it raises. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
WEDNESDAY 9/10
J. A. JANCE
The suspense writer reads from Exit Wounds, in which the murder victims include three women and 17 dogs. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
JOYCE THOMPSON
Sailing My Shoe to Timbuktu: A Woman's Adventurous Search for Family, Spirit, and Love is a memoir. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30, free.
* REBECCA BROWN, JOHN OLSON, NICO VASSILAKIS, MEGAN PURN
Most religious texts are historically based, stoic, severe, dogmatic, and polarizing, but Experimental Theology poses no institutional argument: It focuses on exposing the most perplexing, perverted, and personal aspects of religious belief. Tonight, four of the 27 essayists and poets collected in the book read aloud their contributions. Polestar Music Gallery, 1412 18th Ave, 329-4224, 7:30 pm, free.
POETRY/OPEN MICS
HOMELAND--Words. So many words. Tuesdays at 7 pm. Caffe Vita, 1005 E Pike St, 709-4440, free.
OPEN MIC NIGHT--Musicians, poets, whoever. Thursdays at 8 pm. 15th Avenue Alehouse, 7515 15th Ave NW, free.
POETSWEST--Featuring Priya Ghillian Keefe and Dobbie Norris. Sunday Sept 7 at 7 pm. Penny Cafe, 1707 NW Market St, 682-1268, free.
RED SKY POETRY THEATER--Featured readers and an open mic. Sundays at 7 pm. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave, 547-4585, free.
SCRATCHING POST--Poetry open mic, all ages. Thursdays at 8 pm, signup at 7:30 pm. Mr. Spot's Chai House, 5463 Leary Ave NW, 297-2424, free.
SEATTLE POETRY SLAM--Open mic and slam with Karen Finneyfrock. Wednesdays at 8 pm. Bad Juju Lounge, 1518 11th Ave, 709-9951, $4.
* SEATTLE SPIT--Queer spoken word. Thurs Sept 4: featured readings of Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Dorothy Parker, and others. First Thursday of every month at 8:30 pm. Wildrose, 1021 E Pike, 369-2471, free.
WOMEN'S POETRY NIGHT--Spoken word from the fairer sex. Thursdays at 8 pm. Bar, 1525 E Olive Way, 322-1788, free.
