THURSDAY 2/6
* AARON BERNSTEIN
See Stranger Suggests. Business Week editor Bernstein preaches on the benefits of communist profit structures in his latest work (coauthored with Rutgers professors Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse), In the Company of Owners: The Truth About Stock Options. King County Labor Temple, 2800 First Ave #6, 624-6600, 7 pm, free.
JIMMY SANTIAGO BACA
Award-winning poet and screenwriter (Bound by Honor) Baca discusses A Place to Stand, his recent memoir charting a life that is no doubt infinitely more interesting than your own. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way, 634-3400, 2 pm, free.
LUIGI LUCA CAVALLI-SFORZA
Retired Stanford genetics professor Cavalli-Sforza (and the only Luigi I’ve ever had the pleasure of documenting) spouts some crazy jargon (that comfortably coasts a few yards over my head) in a lecture titled “Genetics and Culture: A Standard Model of Human Nature.” University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 110, 616-1825, 7 pm, free.
LINDA FAIRSTEIN
The fifth book in her Alex Cooper mystery series (whose other volumes have such compelling titles as Likely to Die, Cold Hit, and Final Jeopardy), Manhattan “sex crime” investigator Fairstein discusses The Bone Vault. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737, noon, free. Also, Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, Fri at 6 pm, free.
JOAO MAGUEIJO
Brilliant scientific upstart or delusional megalomaniac? 35-year-old physicist Magueijo charts dangerous ground as he challenges the notion that the speed of light is a constant (therefore challenging the anchor of Einstein), carping on about his unrecognized genius the whole way down. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
COLUM McCANN
The tumultuous life of celebrated Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev–as illuminated by interviews with such contemporaries as Aleksandar Hemon, Maria Tallchief, Frank McCourt, and others–composes McCann’s latest, Dancer. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
FRIDAY 2/7
RON HANSEN
In what can probably be most accurately described as a “literary romp,” stoic novelist Hansen (Mariette in Ecstasy, Hitler’s Niece) has crafted a self-described “entertainment” with his latest, a story (ready-made for a Sandra Bullock vehicle) of two Parisians having some madcap adventure in Nebraska, titled Isn’t It Romantic. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 8 pm, free.
SATURDAY 2/8
ROSS KING
A man of two minds (and two British minds, at that), makes a pair of divergent appearances this week: one at Elliott Bay to discuss his work in fiction (Ex-Libris, Domino), and another at SAM for Michelangelo & the Pope’s Ceiling, his nonfiction account of the four-year making of the Sistine Chapel. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free. Also Seattle Art Museum, 100 University St, 654-3100, Sun at 3 pm, $2-$7.
MORE VOICES, NEW STORIES
It’s not clear which contributors to this recent collection will be in attendance at tonight’s reading (the book’s writers include Robert S. Fisher, Marianne Forssblad, Charles LeWarne, Nhien T. Nguyen, Michael Reese, Elizabeth Salas, and Jacqueline Williams), but the subject–a mixed history of King County at its sesquicentennial–is enough to assure an audience packed to the rafters. Arrive early. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 4 pm, free.
SUNDAY 2/9
Damn, it’s like a sexual Vietnam in here.MONDAY 2/10
GEOFF DYER
Nomads make me uncomfortable. The transient life is impossibly noncommittal, and allows only for half-thought emotions and connections. Dyer’s (Out of Sheer Rage, Paris Trance) Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It is his testament to 20 years of fleeting contentment and avoidance–from Detroit to Cambodia, with nine other stops along the way. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
TOM PARKER
Perhaps you won’t hear about the box wine you love so much, but Parker and the folks at the Library Bistro have a few things to say about “hue” and “notes of oak” or something in Discovering Washington Wines–a sip-and-swish-and-spit spectacle of palette. Library Bistro, 1007 First Ave, 624-3646, 5:30 pm, $20.
TOM TURNER
Just one of a number of cowboy attorneys working for the 30-year-old environmental protection group known as Earthjustice, Turner recounts the group’s exploits in a self-congratulatory volume titled Justice on Earth. Zeitgeist, 171 S Jackson, 583-0497, 7 pm, free. Also Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, Tues at 7 pm, free.
TUESDAY 2/11
BARBARA FREESE
Coal. It’s a book about coal. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
* KEVIN SAMPSELL, GREGORY HISCHAK, ADAM VOITH, DAVID DRURY
See Stranger Suggests. A top-shelf night on all counts: publishers Sampsell and Voith (of Future Tense Books and TNI Books, respectively) team with Farm Pulp lineman Hischak and local author Drury for a quiet literary tornado. Lux Coffee Bar, 2226 First Ave, 328-9898, 8 pm, free.
WEDNESDAY 2/12
ROBERT COSTANZA
Gund Institute director Costanza confounds me (meaning “everybody”) with a lecture titled “Human-dominated Ecosystems: Understanding the Anthrosphere in the Anthropocene.” University of Washington, Kane Hall, Room 110, 616-1825, free.
ANDRO LINKLATER
Some limey fuck is still trying to make Britain look good in this whole American independence debacle, talkin’ ’bout how U.S. democracy is a product of landownership rather than God’s blessed plan. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
SUSAN McDOUGAL
After 21 months in white-collar prison during a forgotten era, Whitewater pseudocelebrity McDougal finally gives us what no one’s been waiting for: her side of the story. God, I hate book deals. Borders Books and Music, 1501 Fourth Ave, 622-4599, 12:30 pm, free. Also, Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free.
REBECCA SOLNIT
Eadweard Muybridge–the horse-runnin’, naked-woman-showerin’, stair-descendin’ photographer and forerunner of the motion picture–as microscoped by ambitious historian Solnit in River of Shadows. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
POETRY/OPEN MICS
HOMELAND–Words. So many words. Tuesdays at 7 pm. Caffe Vita, 1005 E Pike St, 709-4440, free.
LITTLE METAL MEN–Hosted by Vanessa Sooy. Tuesdays at 7 pm. Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 861-8233, free.
OUT OF TUNE–Poetry and music free-for-all hosted by Jon Hogan. Thursdays at 8:30 pm, signup at 8 pm. The 15th, 7515 15th Ave NW, 706-4973, free.
POETSWEST–Featuring Chris Jarmick, Priscilla Long, Scott Poole, and John Sinclair. Mon Feb 10 at 7 pm. Third Place Books (Ravenna), 6504 20th Ave, 682-1268, free. Also, Otis Cafe, 1005 Boren Ave, 342-9866, free. Featuring J. Glenn Evans, Nancy Dahlberg, Michael Magee, Carol Shaw, and others. Tues Feb 11 at 7 pm.
ReBIRTH–All-ages open-mic brouhaha. Sundays at 7 pm. French and European Artistic and Cultural Center, 623 Broadway E, 726-4843, 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. Sit & Spin, 2219 Fourth Ave, 441-9484, $4.
TAKE A POEM INTO YOUR HEART–Featuring David Thornbrugh, Tammy Kaiser, and David Horowitz. Thursday Feb 6 at 7 pm. Lottie Motts Coffee Shop, 4900 Rainer Ave S, 725-8199, $3.