Open Letter is an exciting new publisher that translates fiction
from around the world in affordable, attractive editions. Its second
publication is The Pets, an Icelandic thriller about a
misanthropic man looking for love and finding a distasteful old friend
in a rough situation instead. Bragi Ólafsson, a former member of
the Sugarcubes, has written something weird and wonderful; like
Jar City and other Icelandic mysteries, it’s like an
anorak-heavy cop show on acid. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 101
S Main St, 624-6600. 7:30 pm, free.)