The celebrated novelist writes in his memoir Little Failure that his last name, with its âinsane, Sovietized spellingâ and eye-watering consonants, has âcost me a lot of human warmth.â He quotes a giggling receptionist going, âMr., uh, I canât pronounce this⌠Shit⌠Shit⌠Shitfart?â He discusses getting circumcised in second grade, doing psychedelic mushrooms at Oberlin, having a panic attack at Strand Bookstore, plus the horrors of Hitler and Stalin: âAs I march my relatives across the pages of this book, please remember that I am alsomarching them toward their graves and that they will most likely meet their ends in some of the worst ways imaginable.â (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, townhallseattle.org, 7:30 pm, $30/includes copy of the book)