THURSDAY 8/11

MATTHEW KANGAS
The art critic reads from his book Epicenter: Essays on North American Art, a lot of which is about art in places other than New York City. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

CHERRY ADAIR
Hot Ice is a romantic action-adventure novel. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

RABBI ALEXANDER SEINFELD
The rabbi reads from and talks about The Art of Amazement: Judaism's Forgotten Spirituality. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

FRIDAY 8/12

LUCY MOORE
Into the Canyon: Seven Years in Navajo Country is a book about the author's experiences in Arizona. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

JACK HAMANN
On American Soil: How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II is about the apparent lynching of an Italian prisoner of war in 1944 at the hands of a crowd of American soldiers. Jackson Street Books, 2301 S Jackson St, Suite 210, 324-7000, 7:30 pm, free.

SATURDAY 8/13

ROLLING THUNDER DEMOCRACY TOUR
Workshops, music, and an "outdoor extravaganza" featuring Greg LeRoy (The Great American Job Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation), Jim Diers (Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way), and others. Magnuson Park, Sand Point, 624-6600, noon–8 pm, $10 at Elliott Bay Book Company or www.seattlethunder.net.

DORA LEVY MOSSANEN
Courtesan is a novel set in Paris, Persia, and South Africa in the 1800s. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 3 pm, free. (Also at Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free.)

ROSEBUD MAGAZINE
Several editors of and contributors to the new issue of Rosebud (a magazine of "creative prose, poetry, and visual art") read and talk about their work. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 8 pm, free.

SUNDAY 8/14

MIRIAM BASSUK, DONNA FRISK, MADELLE QUIRING, MILLIE RENFREW
The poets read from a chapbook they all contributed to, called Between Light and Shade. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 2 pm, free.

MONDAY 8/15

JOYCE YARROW
Ask the Dead is a detective novel. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

JIM LOMMASSON
Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & the Will to Survive in American Boxing Gyms is a book of photos by Lommasson (a Portland photographer) and essays by Katherine Dunn, Carlo Rotella, and others. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

TUESDAY 8/16

recommended PERIEL ASCHENBRAND
Aschenbrand is described on the back of her debut book, The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own, as follows: "If members of the Symbionese Liberation Army had carried Prada handbags, transformed raunchy sex gossip into political protest, and designed agitprop fashion, they would be Periel Aschenbrand." The book begins: "I'm on the phone with my mother and she's like, 'I'm very upset you're waitressing. It's terrible that someone with a master's degree is waitressing.'" University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

NANCY WEATHERSPOON
Road to Awakening is a novel about a 13-year-old living in a racist Texas town. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

DAVID WILLIAMS
The Street-Smart Naturalist is about nature and the city. Green Leaf Books, 3422 Stone Way N, 545-7465, 7 pm, free.

WEDNESDAY 8/17

NINA SHENGOLD
Clearcut is a "psychodrama" set in the Pacific Northwest. University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

recommended MACKENZIE BEZOS
A sentence, chosen at random, from MacKenzie Bezos's first novel, The Testing of Luther Albright: "Belsky stabbed another meatball with his toothpick and looked at me, eyebrows raised." That's a great name, Belsky. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

POETRY/OPEN MICS

ELLIOTT BAY OPEN MIKE NIGHT: Signup at 7 pm, reading at 7:30 pm. Last Wednesday of the month. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, free.RED SKY POETRY THEATER: Featured readers and an open mic. Sundays at 7 pm. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave, 547-4585, free.SEATTLE POETRY SLAM: Every Tuesday at 8 pm. Mirabeau Room, 529 Queen Anne Ave N, 650-2869, $4.TAKE A POEM INTO YOUR HEART: Featured readers. Fourth Friday of every month at 7 pm, signup at 6:45 pm. Bookworm Exchange, 4860 Rainier Ave S, 722-6633, free.SEATTLE SPIT: Featured readers and an open mic. First Thursday of every month at 8:30 pm. The Wild Rose, 1021 E Pike St, free.TUESDAYS AT THE CABARET: An evening of poetry, comedy, and prose on the second Tuesday of every month. Richard Hugo House, 322-7030, $5.