At Town Hall, Robert Reich is reading from his book Aftershock. It's a book about the economy. I know, I know: But this is important. (It's so important, I made it the books lead this week.) Reich's got a plan to get the economy back on track, and it involves taxing the wealthy to pay the poor:
What Reich proposes in Aftershock is a bold reimagining of populist presidential candidate Huey Long's "Every Man a King" proposal from the 1930s, a kind of socialized capitalism. The government would pay wage supplements to full-time workers. Those earning $20,000 or less a year would get $15,000 annually. Workers who make $30,000 would get supplements of $10,000; $40,000-a-year workers would get $5,000; and the scale would even out at $50,000.
There'll be plenty to talk about tonight.
Or if you're sick of the goddamned economy already and you just want to be entertained, you should go to University Book Store. Local author Cherie Priest is doing the first-ever bookstore reading of her brand-new novel, Dreadnought. It's a sequel of sorts to last year's blimp-pirates-and-zombies-in-steampunk-Seattle novel Boneshaker: It's not about the same characters, but it is set in the same world. The Civil War is dragging on, and a Virginia battlefield nurse must travel all the way to Tacoma to visit her dying father. I started it last night, and it's already a livelier read than Boneshaker. Priest will be reading at other events in town in the next few weeks, but this is the launch party, and it should be a fun kind of mob scene.
The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.
