*JAMES GLEICK

The author of Chaos: Making a New Science and Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman (both nominated for the National Book Award) visits our high-tech-happy city of caffeine jitters to pimp the paperback release of Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything. The N.Y. Times Book Review called Gleick's latest book--an examination of the modern era's need for speed--"nimble, smart, often funny and, best of all, fast." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

MICHEAL T. YOUNG

Rachel Hadas called Young's new book of poetry, Transcriptions of Daylight, "a rich and accomplished debut." Elliott Bay Book Company, 5 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

AARON LAWRENCE

Reading and signing by the author of The Male Escort's Handbook. Beyond the Closet Bookstore, 518 E Pike St, 322-4609, 7:30 pm, free.

*VELMA MAIA THOMAS

Freedom's Children: The Passage from Emancipation to the Great Migration--Thomas' narrative of African American family history beginning during the postbellum era of Reconstruction--is the sequel to her best-selling Lest We Forget. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE , 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

DAVID BODANIS

Reading and signing by the author of E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation, a scientific history of Einstein's totally genius theory on the law of the equivalence of mass and energy. Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available gratis at University Bookstore).

INGRID NEWKIRK

The president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) talks about and signs her new book, Free the Animals: The Story of the Animal Liberation Front. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 443-1615, 6 pm, $10 door/$8 advance (call 443-1615)/$5 students.

*THOMAS FRANK

See Stranger Suggests. Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available free at University Bookstore).

*ERIC BOGOSIAN

See Bio Box. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

ROBERT MICHAEL PYLE

Pyle is a Burroughs Medal Award-winning writer, and his latest non-fiction book, Walking the High Ridge, is described as a "personal tour through the considerable body of his writings, interests and passions." Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free.

TRIBUTE TO OCTAVIO PAZ

Bilingual and choral staged reading of Nobel Prize-winning Mexican poet, directed by Olga Sanchez as part of UW's Ethnic Cultural Center Send-Off Series (the theater will be closing soon for renovations). Ethnic Cultural Center, 3940 Brooklyn Ave NE, 543-4635, 7:30 pm, free (donation recommended).

*VICIOUS HAIKU COMPETITION

This legendary poetry event--sponsored by the ABLRS Global Amusement Directorate--will feature performances by gin-soaked balladeer Joey Kline, Canadian songwriter and accordionist Geoff Berner, and the multimedia projectionist/choral troupe the Trachtenberg Family Players. The haiku competition, hosted by chairman Richard Mockler, is open to the public; submissions will be judged for their "language, ability to startle, and the degree to which they evoke laughter, hostility, or both, in the attendees." Lottie Mott's Coffeehouse, 4900 Rainier Ave S, 325-2294, 7 pm, free.

ERIC SCIGLIANO & TIM THOMPSON

Seattle Weekly's Scigliano and local photographer Thompson are co-creators of Puget Sound: Sea Between the Mountains. Elliott Bay Book Company, 5 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

CHAIM BEZALAL

Bezalal's new book, Songs from the Territories, is a collection of photos, poems, and prose about the author's five years in Israel. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

*JOHN ROSS

Mexico-based journalist Ross (From the Roots, Tonatiuh's People) has been called "another John Reed" (Blanche Petrich of La Jornada) and "perhaps the most important reporter writing in English on matters of Mexican politics and culture" (filmmaker Alex Cox). His latest book, The War Against Oblivion: Zapatista Chronicles 1994-2000, is a far-reaching account of the Chiapas revolt. Elliott Bay Book Company, 4 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

BIG POPPA E

Big Poppa E is a Seattle-based publisher, writer, spoken-word artist, and founder of the Wussy Boy movement. After this evening's performance, the man praised by the N.Y. Times as an "exuberantly defiant" force in contemporary slam culture will retire every poem he has ever written in order to concentrate on penning a new batch of material. Sit & Spin, 2219 Fourth Ave, 441-9484, 7 pm, $5.

STEPHEN THOMAS

Thomas is the featured reader at this installment of the "Red Sky Poetry Theatre" reading series. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th, 633-5647, 7:30 pm, free.

ROBERT MICHAEL PYLE

See Friday listing. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

*RAVEN CHRONICLES GROUP READING

The following folks will be performing as part of a celebration for the new issue of The Raven Chronicles (entitled "The Future: Shelter and Sustenance"): Judith Roche, Anitra Freeman, Ruth A. Fox, Paul Hunter, Vicki Angel, Steve Potter, Marion Kimes, Peter Pereira, Joannie Kervan Stangeland, Clare McLean, Suzanne A. Villegas, Sandi Sonnenfeld, Elisabeth Kushner, John Mifsud... as well as the fantastically talented Stranger trinity of Doug Nufer, John Olson, and Traci Vogel. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 323-4316, 6:30 pm, free (potluck, so bring grub).

MICHAEL J. MANDEL

Mandel is the author of The Coming Internet Depression: Why the High-Tech Boom Will Go Bust, Why the Crash Will Be Worse Than You Think, and How to Prosper Afterwards. Elliott Bay Book Company, 5:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

JOHN DOUGLAS & MARK OLSHAKER

Reading and signing by the co-authors of The Cases That Haunt Us, a collection that looks at history's most notorious unsolved homicide cases, such as the "Black Dahlia" murder and the ongoing travesty of the JonBenet Ramsey investigation. Third Place Books, 7 pm, free.

GEORGE LAKOFF

Reading and signing by the author of Where Mathematics Comes From. Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, tickets required (available gratis at University Bookstore).

*JONATHAN RABAN

Raban, a Seattle resident, returns for the paperback release of the widely acclaimed Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings, a travel book that Kirkus Review called "a rich, multilayered narrative of solitary travel through a vast and chilly landscape." Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

THE LADIES OF RYLSTONE CALENDAR SIGNING

Join Miss February (Angela Baker) and Miss October (Tricia Stewart) in celebrating the benefit nudie calendar "The Ladies of Rylstone 2000," the royalties of which ($750,000 so far) go to fund both the Leukemia Research Fund (U.K.) and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (U.S.). Elliott Bay Book Company, 6 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

HAWK MADRONE

Booksigning by the author of Weeding at Dawn: A Lesbian Country Life, a collection of essays, poetry, and creative non-fiction inspired by the "back-to-the-land" lesbian movement of the '70s. Beyond the Closet Bookstore, 518 E Pike St, 322-4609, 7:30 pm, free.

JOHN DOUGLAS

See Monday listing. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.

FALL PLAY READING SERIES: BOY GETS GIRL

The Repertory Actors Theatre present a staged reading of Rebecca Gilman's play Boy Gets Girl, praised by the Chicago Tribune as a "provocative, unsettling" drama about the dark side of relationships. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, $5 suggested donation (no tickets necessary, first come first served).