*EDMUND WHITE

Guggenheim Fellow and winner of the National Arts and Letters Award for Literature, White (author of Skinned Alive and The Farewell Symphony) returns to Bailey/Coy Books to read from his new novel, The Married Man: A Love Story. Set against the backdrops of Paris, Venice, and Morocco, this book tells the story of the unlikely yet profound romance that evolves between a recently dumped, middle-age American expatriate and a young, married French architect. The extraordinarily prolific Joyce Carol Oates called this "one of the most powerful, candid, devastating and moving novels I've read in recent years." (Note: Arrive early! The place will be packed!) Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.

SHANA ALEXANDER

There's something so sadly beautiful about elephants, and now they're all going extinct, which is just plain sad. Damn this planet! Thirty-five years ago, Alexander--a best-selling author and journalist--wrote an article for Life about the first birth of an elephant in a U.S. zoo; The Astonishing Elephant is her full-length "true and tragic study of one of the world's most interesting animals." University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

JOHN DOUGLAS MARSHALL

The University of Washington Press has recently re-published Marshall's Vietnam-era memoir, Reconciliation Road: A Family Odyssey. Author Richard Ford has called this journalist's (Marshall writes for the Seattle P-I) tale of conscientious objection in the face of a family heritage of military service "a notably dignified and heartfelt and wise life's account," while Bill Moyers urges the public to "read this for the peace offering it is." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 8 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

R. D. SHADOWBYRD, J. GLENN EVANS, MARJORIE ROMMEL, GEORGE COX

On the second Thursday of every month, the Seattle Public Library hosts the "It's About Time Writers Reading Series," which features both beginning and experienced writers reading from their works. An open mic reading precedes and follows the scheduled readers (otherwise know as "the amateur sandwich ploy"). This event is dedicated to the memory of Anna Helfgott (who began writing after the age of 70!) and her teacher, Nelson Bentley. Seattle Public Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way NE, 684-4063, 6:30 pm, free.

MARK LINDQUIST

R.E.M. guitarist and man-about-town Peter Buck praises Lindquist's new novel, Never Mind Nirvana, as "hip deep in music" and "a telling inside view that perfectly captures the rhythms and sights of late-'90s Seattle." The Stranger's own "hip deep" rhythm queen Kathleen Wilson, whose "hackles went up" at Lindquist's poorly masked and idiotically defended fictional opportunism, called it "the name-droppingest book since The Andy Warhol Diaries." Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

NANCE VAN WINCKEL

Van Winckel, a professor of creative writing at Eastern Washington University and recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship, is the author of three short-story collections (Quake received the 1998 Paterson Prize for fiction) and three volumes of poetry. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 5 pm, $3 suggested donation.

THOMAS SANCHEZ

One-novel-per-decade author Sanchez (1973: Rabbit Boss; 1989: Mile Zero) visits Seattle to promote his latest book, Day of the Bees, which is creating quite a buzz among the national literati (i.e., independent booksellers and academics). According to the press release, this novel "is the taut, riveting story of people whose lives and work are torn apart by World War II." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

RONALD TAKAKI

The brilliant "people's" historian Howard Zinn has called Takaki's newest book, Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II, "a troubling look at the underside of the 'good war'... Takaki writes with undisguised passion, and lets us hear again and again the eloquent voices of those who fought the double fight, against the enemy abroad, for justice at home." For anyone out there who still believes in the self-congratulating, amnesiac myth of America's so-called Good War, this is the perfect opportunity to have all that myopic patriotism and nostalgic horseshit debunked once and for all. Sponsored by Elliott Bay Books. Theater Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

*OCTAVIO BUTLER, LOUISE MARLEY, VONDA MCINTYRE

These local authors will be meeting in the Fireside Room for "A Science Fiction Evening," co-sponsored by the Lake Forest Park King County Library. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

STEVE LLOYD

Sea storms and shipwrecks are all the literary rage these days. Farallon: Shipwreck and Survival on the Alaska Shore tells the tale of 38 men stranded on the ice sans communication. The book is filled with pictures of "frostbitten men, makeshift tents, and the barren Alaskan shore" taken by seaman and amateur photographer John E. Thwaites. "A superbly readable tale, full of suspense, heroism and survival, that once begun, is almost impossible to put down," said Sue Henry (whoever that is). Borders, 1501 Fourth Ave, 622-4599, 1 pm, free.

AMANDA LUMRY

Not only is this a slide show (whoo hoo!) but if you stick around for the whole thing, they'll be passing refreshments around. (These, by the way, are the only two types of special events that made elementary school tolerable.) Mala Mala: Pathway to an African Eden is the romantic title of this photographic presentation by Lumry (the Bellevue-based author of Nantucket Borders) in collaboration with Loren Wengerd, who was technical assistant for the book. Bring the kids! University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 1 pm, free.

ANDREW SEAN GREER

According to J. Robert Lennon, Greer's debut collection of short stories, How It Was for Me, is "a miracle of eloquence, strange as a dream, yet bright and inevitable as daybreak--days after you've read it, you'll be desperately clawing the pages, praying there's one you've missed." (This sounds suspiciously like a behavioral manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder.) Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

JAMES W. HUSTON

Yet more page-turning, best-selling, mind-numbing international espionage (Flashpoint) penned by a former military man/lawyer. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 6 pm, free.

STEVE LLOYD

See Friday listing. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 3 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

RICHARD DENNER

The Red Sky Poetry Theatre host is the featured local writer, plus open mic. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th, 633-5647, 7:30 pm (sign-up begins at 7pm), free.

CRAB CREEK REVIEW GROUP READING

Local writers read from their works featured in this Vashon-based literary journal. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.

*THOMAS LYNCH

Funeral director/poet/philosopher Lynch won the National Book Award for The Undertaking, a collection of meditative essays that were deeply rooted in his professional experiences with the physical and emotional realities of death and mourning. His newest collection, Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality, is--according to NYT critic Richard Bernstein--filled with the same "quizzical, gently cantankerous, free-minded Yeatsean charm" that characterized Lynch's previous book, while at the same time filling in "some painful personal detail that was missing from the first, like the battle with alcoholism he fought for many years, a wrenching divorce, and the mostly pleasurable tribulations he experienced in raising four children largely by himself." Reading and signing, sponsored by the University Book Store. Kane Hall, Walker Ames Room, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available free at store).

ELINOR LIPMAN

The best-selling author of The Inn at Lake Devine and Isabel's Bed will be reading from and signing her new novel, The Ladies' Man. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS

Leap, Williams' latest novel, took James Hillman "into the heart of Importance," while Lucy Lippard says the book leads the reader "in and out of the double-sided looking glass that is Bosch's Garden of Delights and of the heavens and hells of our own natural world" and "points the way to new spiritual dimensions buried in art, 'nature' and our own lives." That's a hell of a lot of leaping, leading, and pointing, don't you think? (What's up? Is this woman some kind of guru?) Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5 (tickets available at Elliott Bay Books).

STEVE LLOYD

See Friday listing. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

TUESDAY 6/13

BECK WEATHERS

Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest is the personal account of that guy in Jonathan Kraukauer's Into Thin Air who fell into a deep, hypothermic coma and was truly "left for dead." If you believe the press release, which proclaims that this will "perhaps be the last Everest book," then I've got 14 acres in Aberdeen I'll sell you for a song. University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd St, 634-3400, 7 pm, advance free tickets available at University Book Store.

ROBERT YOUNG PELTON

Globe-trotting adrenaline-junkie Pelton takes a little breather to promote his autobiography of a travel writer, The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

LAUREN KESSLER

Kessler reads from and signs The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barns, the biography of an early American female pilot. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

RICHARD BUTLER

Now's your chance to get really scared and/or really pissed off: Butler was the leader of the United Nations' weapons inspection team, and his new book--The Greatest Threat: Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Growing Crisis of Global Security --"issues a scathing indictment of the West's failure to stop Saddam Hussein." I know there's more than a few of you out there who have some serious questions for this guy. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 441-5910, 7:30 pm, free and open to the public.

ANDREW WARD

This Seattle writer's new book, Dark Midnight When I Rise: The Story of the Jubilee Singers Who Introduced the World to the Music of Black America, "sheds vivid light on the post-Civil War experience of America's blacks" (Thomas Fleming). Sponsored by Elliott Bay Books. Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 1634 19th Ave, 624-6600, 7 pm, free (first come, first serve).

*TONY EARLEY

Jill McCorkle say that Earley's "wonderful" debut novel, Jim the Boy, "shines with all we've come to expect from his fine stories: graceful prose, gentle wit, compassionate spirit." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

ROLAND TERRY & JUSTIN HENDERSON

The architect and his biographer (Roland Terry: Master Northwest Architect) will both be on hand to sign the book. Marco Polo Books, 713 Broadway E, 860-3736, 5:30 pm, free.

STAGE FRIGHT YOUTH OPEN MIKE

An open reading for authors between the ages of 14-24, preceded by a free writing workshop about dealing with cancer led by Terry Hines (5:30-6:30 pm). Hosted by Issac DeLeon and Vanessa Downing. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7 pm, free.

LAUREN KESSLER

See Tuesday listing. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.