CRISTINA GARCIA
Expanse seems to be the focus of Garcia's Monkey Hunting, a story that traverses two centuries, four countries, and five generations of a Chinese Cuban family. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free. Also Sat at Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 6 pm, free.
* IT'S ABOUT TIME READING SERIES
A monthly open discussion on the writer's role in society. Featured readers this month include Aura Cueva, Matt Briggs, Nancy Peacock, and William Smails. Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347, 7 pm, free.
TAMARA MADISON-SHAW
Poet and former Seattleite Madison-Shaw returns with her award-winning spoken-word record, 2002's Naked Voice. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7 pm, free.
* EDWARD SAID
Said, a prominent literary critic and the author of one of the most important 20th-century works of theory, Orientalism, recounts his history in the hostile Middle East of his youth in a recent memoir, Not Quite Right. Considering the current severity of his long illness, it's a wonder that he is doing this reading at all. University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 130, 616-1825, 7 pm, free.
JAMES WATSON
Dr. Watson, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who made up that whole double helix doodad (a great innovation that, among other things, allowed this century's greatest achievement--and by that I mean Jurassic Park), chats about his latest book, DNA: The Secret of Life. University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 120, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
FRIDAY 5/9
IAIN LEVISON
Here with that book all of your slacker friends keep meaning to write, Levison signs A Working Stiff's Manifesto. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
NHIEN NGUYEN
Nguyen, Seattle Arts Commission Literary Award winner and editor of Seattle's International Examiner, presents a series of unpublished short stories. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 6 pm, free.
MONIQUE TRUONG
With an ultimately ephemeral blurb in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook as a starting point, Truong imagines the troubled life of the "Indochinese" man in the employ of Gertrude Stein and the titular Toklas in The Book of Salt, her debut. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 9 pm, free.
KRISTIN VON KREISLER
A book about a dog, and the lessons von Kreisler learned from said dog. This book is not about a talking dog. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free.
SATURDAY 5/10
JOHN FELSTINER
Big-britches Stanford scholar Felstiner discusses his literary obsession with tortured poet Paul Celan, whom he has both biographied and translated in Paul Celan and the award-winning Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan, respectively. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.
* GERALD NACHMAN
Nachman proves irrevocably that nothing was funny before 1985 in the 700-plus pages of detail-heavy profiles that compose Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
* ERIC SCHLOSSER
This was going to be a Stranger Suggests item, but the books editor failed to secure the space, such is his influence in this paper. But he and I highly recommend this reading by the author of last year's Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal and this year's Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 2 pm, free. Also Mon at Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5.
VOICES OF RESISTANCE
Poets Nicole Bade, Irene Drennan, Murray Gordon, and Thomas Hubbard toss a collective wrench into some kind of system with their steel-plated verbiage. Radical Women, 5018 Rainier Ave S, 985-4621, 7:30 pm, $5-$10.
SUNDAY 5/11
Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. Her name is Coco.
MONDAY 5/12
SAMPSON DAVIS, GEORGE JENKINS, LISA FRAZIER PAGE
Hope and friendship and all that other jazz they talk about on Oprah: Three troubled teens make a pact, go to college, become doctors, write a book. University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 130, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
JOHN RINGO
Well known in the sprawling school of something called "military science fiction," Ringo signs Hell's Faire, the fourth book in his "Legacy of the Aldenata" series. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
TUESDAY 5/13
ROSS BRANN
Brann, professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies at Cornell University, offers a lecture titled "Andalusi Moorings: Competing Tropes of Jewish Culture in Muslim Spain." University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 120, 616-1825, 7 pm, free.
TERRY BROOKS
That fantasy novelist your fancy "literate" friends always talk about signs Sometimes the Magic Works, a book of sage advice from his years as a "writer." Barnes & Noble, 2700 NE University Village, 517-4107, 7 pm, free.
BILL BRYSON
Noted travel writer Bryson traverses the abyss of time with A Short History of Nearly Everything, a layman's overview of, like, everything ever. University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 130, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
SARAH HUFBAUER, JILL SEYMOUR
"Sexy mamas" (and medical doctors) Hufbauer and Seymour discuss the possibilities of postpartum sexuality. Toys in Babeland, 707 E Pike, 328-2914, 7:30 pm, $30. ("Sarah Hufbauer is the best doctor in the world." --Tracy, copy ed.)
MONKEY BICYCLE READING SERIES
This round of the monthly reading series features writers Karyna McGlynn, David C. La Terre, Ed Page, and Michael Leavitt. Lux, 2226 First Ave, 335-2884, 8 pm, free.
* RENDEZVOUS READING SERIES
The trusted folks at the Rendezvous Reading Series present Stranger favorite Rebecca Brown, along with Gordon Janow and Cynthia Hartwig--all under the menacing umbrella of "The End of Youth." Little Theatre, 610 19th Ave E, 329-2629, 7:30 pm, free.
ELIZABETH ROSNER
Rosner signs her award-winning debut novel, The Speed of Light, a meditation on the prolonged toll of family secrets. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
JONATHAN SCHELL
'Cuz, like, you know--war's totally obsolete, right? I mean, come on--haven't you guys ever heard of Gandhi? Schell argues the impossible in his tome to pacifism, The Unconquerable World. Town Hall, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5.
WEDNESDAY 5/14
GREG BEAR
Local sci-fi superstar Bear capitalizes on the inherent media onslaught of the spring's biggest blockbuster as he tours a book of his own mutant offspring, Darwin's Children. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
SAM HAMILL
Battling the Bush administration (which few in this town see as anything but an awful administration) with a sharp wit and fountain pen, Hamill and his Poets Against the War protest the war that is now a part of history. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
ROBERT KATES
Recycling is all fine and good, but what Dr. Kates wants to know is whether there's any chance for us in this corner we've backed ourselves into. Brown professor (and by that I mean a professor at Brown University) Kates addresses "The Great Transition to Sustainability." University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 110, 616-1825, 7 pm, free.
POETRY/OPEN MICS
HOMELAND--Words. So many words. Tuesdays at 7 pm. Caffe Vita, 1005 E Pike St, 709-4440, free.
POETSWEST--Featuring Eli Richardson. Thurs May 8 at 7 pm. Lux, 2226 First Ave, 682-1268, free. Also, Mon May 12 at 7 pm. Featuring Dennis Caswell, Scott Galasso, David Horowitz, and Joannie Kervan Stangeland. Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347, 7 pm, free.
RED SKY POETRY THEATER--Featuring Todd Davis. Sun May 11 at 7:30 pm. Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave, 547-4585, free.
SCRATCHING POST--Poetry open mic, all ages. Thursdays at 8 pm, signup at 7:30 pm. Mr. Spot's Chai House, 5463 Leary Ave NW, 297-2424, free.
SEATTLE POETRY SLAM--Open mic and slam with Karen Finneyfrock. Wednesdays at 8 pm. Bad Juju Lounge, 1518 11th Ave, 709-9951, $4.
