The only other time Alex Shakar published a novel, 9/11 happened and everybody forgot about The Savage Girl and its lucid, scathing prose about branding and identity. Unless Shakar turns out to be a colossal jinx, we now have an opportunity to take a disaster-free first look at one of his novels. Tonight, he’ll be reading from Luminarium, about a lonesome twin (his brother is comatose) who gets lost in virtual worlds including a Second Life–like game, the Disney-owned town of Celebration, Florida, and his own disconnected brain. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, www.elliottbaybook.com, 7 pm, free)