JOHN SAUL

Best-selling local author of such horripilating novels as The Right Hand of Evil, Guardian, and The Homing will read from and sign his newest chiller, Nightshade. "In my books everything looks perfectly normal in the beginning," explains Saul, "but there's some little thing that's wrong and it gets out of control." Boo! University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

WAYNE JOHNSTON

This Canadian author visits Seattle to promote not one but two of his recently published titles: the memoir Baltimore's Mansion, and the paperback release of his novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. Howard Normal praised the latter work as "an indisputable masterpiece" that "reshapes and animates history with luminous verisimilitude." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

HENRIETTE KLAUSER

So reads the press release: Six months ago, the author of Write It Down, Make It Happen "gave a talk and mini-workshop on this, her latest book. One of the tasks was to write down goals for ourselves and seal them in envelopes. We are mailing the envelopes out with a special invitation to attend this six-month check-up to see the progress." Too ripe with comic potential to miss. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

*DAN SAVAGE

The internationally renowned knob-lickin', ass-kickin' Stranger columnist's latest book, The Kid: What Happened after My Boyfriend and I Decided to Get Pregnant, recently won an award from Pen Center West. "Savage's memoir," crows the Kirkus Review, "reveals an acid tongue and a boundless heart, a savvy blending of social commentary and self-deprecating humor." Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.

*RICK BASS

Bass tromps all the way from Montana's Yaak Valley to alert the denizens of Seattle to the publication of his new memoir, Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had. Animal lover and Southern writer Larry Brown says Colter "is one of the best books I've ever read about dogs and hunting. It is told in a voice that speaks about the beauty of the natural world and one man's love for it. It is heartbreaking yet uplifting, and Rick Bass only gets better and better." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 8 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

*ARIEL GORE

See Bio Box. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

BREE LAFRENIERE & DARAN KRAVANH

Lafreniere's book Music Through the Dark: A Tale of Survival in Cambodia tells of Kravanh's harrowing experiences as a subject of the Khmer Rouge's campaign of terror. Of the memoir, Alex Tizon says, "Not in a long time have I read a book so horrifying and so beautiful.... Told in an artless yet strangely lyrical voice, the story of Daran Kravanh is not just a tale of survival but of survival through one of the darkest pits of hell as created by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge soldiers.... It is a story everyone should know and no human being should experience." Sponsored by Elliott Bay Books and the Washington Center for the Book. Seattle Public Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, 624-6600, 7 pm, free (first come, first served basis).

SHEILA BENDER

According to Julia Rouse, this formerly Seattle-based poet's new book, A Year in the Life: Journaling for Self-Discovery, "offers an imaginative and accessible approach to journal writing" filled with "innovative writing exercises" that "urge us to show ourselves to ourselves." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 5 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

JOYCE JOHNSON

Way back in the '50s, Johnson had a torrid two-year fling with world-class tramp Jack Kerouac, and now she tells all. Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters is, according to Howard Norman, "A wild emotional ride if ever there was one! This epistolary memoir contains thousands of miles of separation and longing, requited and unrequited love, and a kind of painful literary honesty absent from today's world." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

GUDRUN ONGMAN

This Woodinville author/illustrator reads from and signs her debut children's book, Sleep Ponies. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 1 pm, free.

*DAN SAVAGE

See Thurs listing. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 3 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

ALL OPEN MIC

The Red Sky Poetry Theatre's reading series (the longest-running in Seattle) celebrates the finale of their 19th year with this slam-bam "End of Season Party." Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave, 633-5647, 7:30 pm (sign-ups start at 7), free.

HENRY FRIEDMAN

Michael Berenbaum, in his forward to Friedman's recently published memoir, calls I'm No Hero: Journeys of a Holocaust Survivor "a slim but powerful volume" that "traces [Friedman's] experiences from his childhood before the Holocaust into life in hiding, together with his family and alone, and his postwar adventures as he rebuilds his life and recreates a world." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 3 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

ROGER HARRIS

Life at a Snail's Pace recounts Harris' miraculous recovery from a devastating stroke, the symptoms of which were so severe it was not expected that he would live, much less live to tell the tale. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 4:30 pm, free.

THOMAS BELLER

See Stranger Suggests. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

NANCY L. SNYDERMAN, M.D.

Snyderman--a medical correspondent for ABC News, 20/20, and Good Morning America--is the author of Necessary Journeys, a book that confronts a variety of difficult issues confronting women in the 35-60 age bracket. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

MOBY DICK ALTERNATIVE READING

The Stranger's infinitely-gracious and astoundingly erudite Music Editor Erin Franzman has offered to host an all-night reading of Herman Melville's whale of a tale, Moby Dick. While Erin has her own, off-kilter-yet-extremely-brilliant ideas about the notorious symbolism found in the pages of this classic of world literature, she is open to any new interpretations you might wish to make public... so long as you absolutely do not use the words "obsession," "peg-leg," "soundscape," or "phallic." Show up at Erin's place around 6:30, and let the intellectual odyssey begin (B.Y.O.B.).

LAURA WERLIN

Who cut the cheese? Werlin did! This food journalist's seminal book The New American Cheese provides an in-depth and tasty look at native cheeses and their talented producers. Yum! Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 5:30 pm, free.

GEOFF RYMAN

Ryman's novels (Was, The Unconquered Country) deal in speculative situations through the use of narrative innovation. His "hypertext" novel 253 takes place on a London subway from the point of view of every person just moments before it crashes. If this is your kind of thing, Ryman's your man. Co-sponsored by Clarion West. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $4 admission at door ($3 students/seniors).

BUZZ ALDRIN

This legendary American astronaut has co-written... guess what? You got it--a science fiction novel. It's called The Return, and guess what? You got it--like all science fiction novels, Aldrin and collaborator John Barnes' futuristic premise is but a clever device to mask a scathing indictment of our malaise in the here and now. Sponsored by University Book Store and KUOW. Kane Hall, UW Campus, 634-3400, 7 pm, advance free tickets (required) available at store.

DR. RICHARD PARRY

Parry, a retired surgeon and author of three novels on Wyatt Earp, has now written a book entitled That Fateful Lightning, an account of the many triumphs and travails of Civil War tactician-cum-U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

MARK MATHABANE

The author of the widely acclaimed memoir Kaffir Boy returns with Miriam's Song, a speculative memoir written in the voice of his real-life sister who remained in South Africa while the rest of her immediate family migrated to the U.S. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

DAVID LONG

Long, an O. Henry Award-winning short-story writer, reads from his debut novel (set in Seattle), The Daughters of Simon Lamoreaux. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

MURRY A. TAYLOR

Taylor is currently the oldest active smokejumper. According to John N. Maclean, Jumping Fire: A Smokejumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire is "a thrill-a-page account... you see the stupendous landscapes, feel the crush of the brutal landings, work to exhaustion, and then hike out eager to be back on board, ready to jump again." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 5 pm, advance free tickets available at store.

POETRY SLAM

Featured poet is hiphop diva and Team Seattle 2000 member Piece. Dutch Ned's, 206 First Ave S, 340-8859, 9 pm, $3.

JOHN SAUL

See Thurs Listing. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.