SOBONFU SOMÉ
The African spirituality teacher talks about Falling Out of Grace: Meditations on Loss, Healing, and Wisdom. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free.
ROBERT PUTNAM & LEWIS FELDSTEIN
Putnam and Feldstein are the co-authors of Better Together: Restoring the American Community. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 682-7395, 7 pm, $5.
* ROBERT MEEROPOL
In 1953, when he was six years old, Meeropol's parents were executed. Aside from being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are also notable, at least in my mind, for landing themselves in the brilliant first sentence of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. (And I quote: "It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they executed the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.") Meeropol talks about his fascinating family history and his own political activism in An Execution in the Family. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free. (Also Sun Oct 5 at Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347, 2 pm, free.)
* MARK SALZMAN
Salzman's books include Iron and Silk, an account of living in China for two years; Lost in Place, a memoir; and the quiet, beautifully crafted novel Lying Awake, which the New York Times called "a singularly rich and abundant work." Tonight he will read from and sign his latest, True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall, a book about his experiences teaching creative writing to messed-up kids. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
TRACY KIDDER
Kidder discusses Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, her book about the rebel health-care reformer. University of Washington, Kane Hall 110, 634-3400, 7 pm, free with ticket.
APRIL REYNOLDS
The characters in Reynolds' debut novel, Knee-Deep in Wonder, are "as utterly familiar as they are, well, crazed," according to Melvin Jules Bukiet, and the story is told in a "dense, fermented language." Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
FRIDAY 10/3
MICHELLE HUNEVEN
Jamesland is a novel set in Los Angeles about a bunch of lonely and weird characters, one of whom is obsessed with the philosopher William James. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free. (Also Sat Oct 4 at Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.)
* JHUMPA LAHIRI
See review, pg. 27. University of Washington, Kane Hall 120, 624-6600, 7 pm, free with ticket.
TERRY PRATCHETT
Monstrous Regiment, a strenuously imagined comic novel about a war in a place called Borogravia, features characters with names like Carborundum, Strappi, and Wazzer. University of Washington, Kane Hall 130, 634-3400, 7 pm, free, tickets required.
LINDA LAWRENCE HUNT
Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America is about a woman who walked across the continent on a $10,000 bet, and then never got paid. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free. (Also Sat Oct 4 at University Bookstore, 634-3400, 2 pm, free.)
SATURDAY 10/4
KATE TROLL
Troll discusses Eco-nomics and Eagles: A People's Guide to Economic Development and the Environment. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 2 pm, free.
STEVEN GALLOWAY
Ascension is a novel based on the life of Romany circus performer Salvo Usari (the guy who tightroped between the World Trade Towers in 1976). Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
IVAN DOIG
Prairie Nocturne is a novel set in Montana and Harlem in the 1920s that addresses issues of race and class. This is Doig's 10th book; to celebrate, Third Place Books is giving away an illustrated broadside featuring a quote from the book with every copy you purchase. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6 pm, free.
DAVID JAMES DUNCAN, SUBHANKAR BANERJEE
Duncan is a novelist (The River Why, The Brothers K) and an environmental essayist (My Story as Told by Water). Banerjee is the author of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They are brought together tonight for the Earth Ministry's annual "Celebration of St. Francis: An Evening of Nature, Spirituality, and the Arts," which is probably a great event but it sounds terrifying. Denny Park Lutheran Church, 766 John St, 632-2426, 7:30 pm, $10.
SUNDAY 10/5
ROBIN McKINLEY
Sunshine is a gothic horror novel. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 2 pm, free.
MONDAY 10/6
MICHAEL PERRY
Population: 485 is a collection of essays about the local author's return to where he grew up. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
* JONATHAN RABAN
Waxwings, a novel set in Seattle in the crepuscular months preceding 9/11, was long-listed for the 2003 Booker Prize. Raban's books are artful and articulate--his prose (to quote from the Guardian) is "agile, musky, particular"--and he is terrifically funny and much, much smarter than you or me. Go see him. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
* MADELEINE ALBRIGHT
The Clinton administration diplomatic bigwig--she is the first woman in history to be a United States secretary of state--signs her memoir, Madam Secretary, and takes your questions about Kim Jong-Il. University of Washington, Kane Hall 130, 634-3400, 8 pm, free, tickets required.
PATRICK MATHEWS
The medium and author signs Never Say Goodbye. East West Bookshop, 6500 Roosevelt Way NE, 523-3726, 7 pm, $8.
TUESDAY 10/7
DAN KENNEDY
Kennedy, whose work has appeared in McSweeney's, reads from his memoir Loser Goes First: My Thirty-Something Years of Dumb Luck and Minor Humiliation. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free.
TINA BASICH
Basich signs Pretty Good for a Girl: The Autobiography of a Snowboarding Pioneer. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
* NELL FREUDENBERGER
See review, pg. 27. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
WEDNESDAY 10/8
TETSUDEN KASHIMA
Judgment Without Trial is about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 4 pm, free.
JANA HARRIS
We Never Speak of It: Idaho-Wyoming Poems, 1889-90 is a book of poetry and old photos. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
FREDERICK HIGHLAND
Ghost Eater is a historical thriller. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
* PAUL KRUGMAN
A few months ago, in these pages, Bradley Steinbacher (who is straight) wrote a love letter (full of gushy sentiment) to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. He called Krugman's anti-Bush political columns "bracing," "thrilling," and "brilliant," and concluded: "You are a motherfucking rock star." Well said, Brad. Tonight, Krugman reads from and signs his new book, The Great Unraveling. University of Washington, Kane Hall 130, 441-5910, 7 pm, free for World Affairs Council members, $15 general.
DAVID GUTERSON
The author of the award-winning Snow Falling on Cedars and the widely panned East of the Mountains discusses his latest novel set in the Northwest, Our Lady of the Forest. Here's a prurient excerpt: "He'd liked plying Eleanor from behind while she was hugely animal pregnant by him, a female mammal who'd started his seed, he'd liked her taut impregnated belly, he licked her belly button, he nibbled her ear, when the baby was born Tom drank at Ellie's breast, he made her get on top, ride him, and he squeezed mother's milk all over his face while she came with contended sighs. Moo!" Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5.
POETRY/OPEN MICS
POETSWEST--Featuring Sondra Ashton, Ellen Elizabeth, Sharon Svendsen. Sun Oct 5 at 7 pm. Penny Cafe, 1707 NW Market St, 682-1268, free.
