THURSDAY 3/9
KIMORA LEE SIMMONS
She reads from Fabulosity: What It Is and How to Get It. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
ISAAK BROWN, CALVIN BURNAP, COWBOY CASS, GAVIN KATZ
The transgender poets read their work. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7:30 pm, $5-$10.
GEORGIA PAYNE
How To Be a Dominant Diva is an "interactive" book. Barnes & Noble, 2675 NE University Village St, 517-4107, 7 pm, free.
MICHELLE TEA
The author of several memoirs (like Valencia) and a graphic novel (Rent Girl) reads from her first novel, Rose of No Man's Land, involving drugs, the suburbs, and tattoos. Fans of the novel include Publisher's Weekly and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth. Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.
EVELYN C. WHITE
Alice Walker: A Life "strives to go beyond simply mapping the movements and accomplishments of the first black female Pulitzer Prize winner" (Publisher's Weekly). Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
FRIDAY 3/10
JENNIFER CORNBLEET
Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People is a depressing title for a book. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free.
JESSICA ABEL
La Perdida is a graphic novel about a Mexican-American woman who goes to Mexico City. I just randomly flipped it open to page 86. I quote from the middle frame: "He still came over all the time, just like it was nothing, and drove the poor girl to drink." University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
WILLIAM DIETRICH
The journalist and historical novelist gives a talk called "Two Roads to Reality: Journalism, Fiction, and the Future of Writing." UW campus, UW Suzallo Library, 543-0540, 7 pm, free.
JOHN GRAHAM
Graham reads from Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-Smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SATURDAY 3/11
CRAIG CORRIE, CINDY CORRIE
The parents of Rachel Corrie, who died while protesting for the Palestinian cause a few years ago, give a presentation about a recent trip they took to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, followed by a theater piece about Rachel Corrie called Daughter of Courage. Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave N, 633-1086, 3 pm, free.
LAURA GAMACHE, CONNIE HUTCHINSON, PAUL VON KEMPF
The featured poets read, followed by an open mic. Epilogue Books, 2005 NW Market, 682-1268, 6 pm, free.
GORDON TAYLOR
Fever & Thirst is about three Americans in the Middle East in the 19th century. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free.
LAWRENCE WESCHLER
The loopy, brilliant art critic (and staff writer for The New Yorker for 20 years!) talks about his new book, Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences, a catalog of "unlikely alignments and beguiling resonances" he's found in images (Magritte, Rothko) and the real world (the moon, windmills, Chicago prisons). The book is published by McSweeney's and is characteristically gorgeous. Because we have the room, here are some quotes. Weschler on the moon: "Godlike, unprecedented, Man vaulted forth into the heavens, a mammoth enterprise, a stunning achievement: a man on the moon. And yet on the moon, there was nothing there (what in God's name else had we been expecting?). A vast interminable emptiness: a howling, airless silence. A vacuum of meaning: absolute solitude." Weschler on abstraction: "Abstraction: to be lost in thought, lost to thought, transported out of oneself. But out of oneself towards what?" Weschler being basically incomprehensible (but this will give you a sense of the spiraling energy): "Then again, maybe the vectors go the other way around, and mind is more like the black hole's physical obverse, the extravagantly spewing supernova, with wave-particles gushing forth at the speed of light. Which in turn raises the question of whether the outgoing attending gaze moves at the same speed as the incoming light, which is to say, the speed of light? Or faster? Or slower?" It's really much better when you're holding the book itself, which, again, is gorgeous. Lastly, because our subject here is parallels and convergences, here is the first paragraph of the title story in Flannery O'Connor's short story collection Everything That Rises Must Converge (another book you should buy and love): "Her doctor had told Julian's mother that she must lose twenty pounds on account of her blood pressure, so on Wednesday nights Julian had to take her downtown on the bus for a reducing class at the Y. The reducing class was designed for working girls over fifty, who weighed from 165 to 200 pounds. His mother was one of the slimmer ones, but she said ladies did not tell their age or weight. She would not ride buses by herself at night since they had been integrated, and because the reducing class was one of her few pleasures, necessary for her health, and free, she said Julian could at least put himself out to take her, considering all she did for him. Julian did not like to consider all she did for him, but every Wednesday night he braced himself and took her." Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SUNDAY 3/12
PEPPER SCHWARTZ
Finding Your Perfect Match is about relationships. Palace Ballroom, 2100 Fifth Ave, 448-2001, 7 pm, $15.
MONDAY 3/13
ALICE BOYTZ
A tutorial on finances for freelance writers. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7020, 6:30, free.
A GUIDE TO VISITORS
A bunch of writers read on the topic of fame. University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
JONAH KERI
Baseball Prospectus 2006 is "packed with statistics, analysis, and attitude." Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
WILLIAM T. VOLLMANN
See Stranger Suggests, p. 19. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255, 7:30 pm, $5.
PATRICK F. MCMANUS
The Blight Way is a mystery set in Idaho and starring a sheriff on the Atkins diet. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
TUESDAY 3/14
GREG MORTENSON
Mortenson reads from Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations... One School at a Time. University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd St, 632-5163, 7 pm, $5.
GEORGE SHAFFNER
The Bellingham author of In the Land of Second Chances reads from his latest, One Part Angel. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
ELIZABETH GILBERT
Gilbert reads from Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, which got a rave review in the New York Times Book Review. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
WEDNESDAY 3/15
DEAN KARNAZES
He reads from his book Ultramarathon Man. The reading is followed by a run. (Seriously; bring shoes.) Seattle Running Company, 919 E Pine St, 329-1466, 7 pm, free.
MARTI OLSEN LANEY
Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child draws on the childhoods of Jackie Kennedy, Bill Gates, and Johnny Carson. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
SHASHI THAROOR
The UN's under-secretary-general talks about UN reform and takes questions. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave S, 441-5910, 7 pm, $25/$15.
ZLATA FILIPOVIC
The author and peace activist talks about the Balkans. Q Cafe, 3223 15th Ave W, 441-5910, 7:30 pm, $15/$5.
JANE URQUHART
A Map of Glass is a centuries-spanning novel involving a character who freezes to death. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
