Culture Fiend

Today’s Recommendation: Follow Sherman Alexie on Twitter

And go to Hugo House on Friday to hear his latest work.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Nov 17, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Rob Casey.

In addition to the new fiction Sherman Alexie will showcase during the Hugo Literary Series on November 18, the Seattle scribe doles out a joke a day on Twitter (@Sherman_Alexie). Some highlights:

• Marilyn Monroe married Arthur Miller. That’s like Jonathan Franzen marrying Angelina Jolie.
• Can we end “douche bag” as an insult? I propose “enema.” It’s more inclusive and accurate.
• I make enough money to know that rich people who complain about taxes are evil.
• I want to be buried with a basketball, hand drum, and electric typewriter.
• Every woman knows that every man looks good in a pink shirt.
• Trapped and starving in the wilderness, I could eat human flesh. That’s why I always carry Tabasco sauce.
• In airports, I enjoy watching white businessmen get searched by black security workers.

Want to hear more like that? Alexie will muse on the topic “While You Were Sleeping” this Friday along with Portland author and publisher Kevin Sampsell; Nicole Hardy, author of Fallen: Memoirs of a Latter-Day Virgin; and Rachel Flotard of Seattle rock band Visqueen. The show’s sold out, but rush tickets will be available that day; come around 6:30 to put your name on the wait list.

Hugo Literary Series: While You Were Sleeping with Sherman Alexie, Kevin Sampsell, Nicole Hardy, and Rachel Flotard is Fri, Nov 18, at 7:30 at Richard Hugo House.

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Tags: Hugo House, Books & Talks, Twitter Comedy, Sherman Alexie

Dave Eggers Hosts the What to Read in the Rain Party

Our local writing center is getting national attention.

Posted by: Allison Williams on Nov 15, 2011 at 11:30AM 0 Comments

Student authors will be on hand to sign books, getting their first taste of delicious fame.

The question and answer are the same: Hmm, what to read in the rain? Make it What to Read in the Rain, an anthology produced by nonprofit 826 Seattle.

The writing and tutoring center will release its second edition of student and adult work on Sunday, with a milk toast to celebrate (in champagne flutes, natch). Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, will be on hand; he’s the founder of the nationwide 826 chain, and he’s bringing local comic artist David Lasky to the free event.

What to Read in the Rain is placed in hotels across the city, where rain-delayed tourists can read student poetry and fiction (including tales of robotic chickens) in addition to new work by Tom Robbins and local scribes Karen Finneyfronk and Garth Stein.

The party doubles as a thank you from the center to their community for their latest achievement, the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award for stellar after-school programs. Michelle Obama handed out the prize personally in early November to 11 organizations from across the country, but only New York and Seattle had two recipients apiece (shout out to Seattle’s Young Shakespeare Workshop). It’s hard to compete with the Emerald City—especially when our nonprofits offer rocket parking on the roof.

The What to Read in the Rain publication party runs 1–3pm at 826 Seattle on Sunday, Nov 20.

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Tags: Books & Talks, Books, Books & Authors, Family Friendly

John Hodgman Will Prepare Us for the Coming Global Superpocalypse

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Nov 02, 2011 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

“If you are not concerned about identity theft and ferrets, then you are living in a fantasy world.” — John Hodgman

What, you haven’t heard of Ragnarok, the coming global superpocalypse? (Not to be confused with the Mayan apocalypse, which some say already came and went. Surprise!) We’re talking about the latest prediction by John Hodgman, The Daily Show’s longtime resident expert and purveyor of fake facts, in the final installment of his Complete World Knowledge trilogy, That Is All (on sale November 1). He’ll coach us on how to prepare for the end of the world at Town Hall next Monday, but before then, here’s a handy tip on “how to make essential household products yourself” postapocalypse.

“Like all things with computers inside of them, microwave ovens will be rendered useless by the omega pulse. So if you want to enjoy good, old-fashioned microwave popcorn, you’re going to have to dip into your dried corn stockpile, and then kidnap one of the descendants of Orville Redenbacher, about a third of whom still carry his telepathic mind-popping gene."

Hodgman’s arrival is yet another reason Seattle is a hilarious place to be this month.

John Hodgman is at Town Hall on Nov 7. This event is presented by Elliott Bay Book Company.

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Tags: Comedy, Elliott Bay Book Co, Town Hall, Books & Talks, John Hodgman

Seattle World’s Fair, a Look Back

New book The Future Remembered rewinds the clock to 1962.

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Oct 24, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Originally published October 2011. In The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and Its Legacy (out October 21, Seattle Center Foundation), Paula Becker, Alan J. Stein, and their fellow historylink.org staffers rewind the clock to a time when Seattle meant little more than airplanes and lumber to the rest of the world. The authors track the quest of local leaders to bring the world to the city and provide a glimpse of Seattle as seen through the eyes of President Kennedy, astronaut John Glenn, actor John Wayne, and Elvis Presley, whose It Happened at the World’s Fair was set at the expo. You’ll be hearing a lot about 1962 in the coming year—when Seattle celebrates the fair’s 50-year anniversary. The Future Remembered is the rocket to bring you up to speed.

Book-It Repertory Theatre has also adapted short stories from the 300-page book and will perform them at Intiman Playhouse on Tuesday, November 15, at 6:30pm. Tickets ($50 on brownpapertickets.com) include a complimentary Bubbleator cocktail and hors d’oeuvres.

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Tags: Books & Talks, Seattle Bookshelf, Seattle World's Fair

David Guterson Reads from New Novel Ed King

It’s more Oedipus Rex, less Snow Falling on Cedars.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Oct 19, 2011 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Tom Collicott.

Ed King, the brand-new novel by Bainbridge’s award-winning author of Snow Falling on Cedars, is practically Franzenien in its suburban salaciousness. Mild-mannered Walter knocks up his au pair, and the orphaned child goes on to marry his mother and rule as a tech tycoon…in Seattle. Of course it’s set in Seattle: opening in the 1960s with a trip to the World’s Fair, and running through today’s tech boom and beyond (to 2017). The book just came out yesterday, and it’s already been called both dazzling and a flat, misguided paraphrase of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.

So which is it? Find out tonight at 7 when David Guterson reads from Ed King at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. He’ll also be at Elliott Bay Book Company tomorrow at 7, and at University Bookstore on November 3 at 7. Admission is free.

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Tags: Books & Talks, David Guterson

Get Library Books on Your Kindle

I swear I had this idea a year ago…

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Sep 22, 2011 at 11:00AM 3 Comments

We still love books, but an e-reader is much nicer on the arms than Freedom.

I have been waiting very impatiently for this arrangement, but the time has come. You can now borrow ebooks from the Seattle Public Library and King County Library System and read them on your Kindle, according to the Seattle P-I. Yessss. The public library has download instructions on its site, spl.org, (under Library Collections), but here’s the gist:

If you have a library card number, you can download digital ebooks, audio books, video, and music onto your computer or e-reader. All you do is pick a title and click “Send to Kindle.” After 21 days, the download automatically returns to the library, so no late fees, and no slogging up that nasty hill to 5th Avenue to get to SPL. You can also borrow from the Project Gutenberg collection, which includes 15,000 titles (lots of classics, Twain and Shakespeare) that never expire.

According to csmonitor.com, roughly 11,000 community libraries are participating. And apparently, Amazon is just catching up to its competitors. Digital lending service OverDrive, which supports this new deal with Amazon, already offers Nook and Sony Reader owners some access to public libraries.

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Tags: Books & Talks, Seattle Public Library, Amazon, Kindle

CANCELLED: Calvin Trillin Talk at Town Hall

Mr. Trillin is feeling under the weather.

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Sep 22, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy AP/Richard Drew.

Get well soon, Calvin.

Sad news: Satirist and longtime Nation contributor Calvin Trillin had to cancel his talk tonight at Town Hall due to “non-life-threatening health reasons,” according to the press release. He was scheduled to read from his new book, Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of the Funny Stuff, which includes nuggets like how his retirement plan consists of him winning the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. Town Hall hopes to bring Trillin back when he’s feeling better, but for now, ticket holders can get a refund or apply their ticket toward another Town Hall event in September or October. Call Brown Paper Tickets (800-838-3006) with questions.

In the meantime, let’s watch the funny man banter with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show in 2008.

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Tags: Books & Talks

I Just Got My Copy of Pearl Jam 20

It’s like being granted a retroactive backstage pass.

Posted by: Matthew Halverson on Sep 13, 2011 at 01:55PM 1 Comments

Pearl Jam turns 20 this year. How old do you feel?

Here’s my favorite quote from Pearl Jam 20, the exhausting exhaustive documentary-in-book-form that’s out today:

“All of a sudden, these guys I’d vaguely met were as famous as Elizabeth Taylor.”

First of all, that comes from R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. Yes, he moved here from Georgia in ‘93, right as Pearl Jam was blistering MTV and radio, but come on, his perspective is an odd one, given that R.E.M. and Pearl Jam were from such different worlds. What I really love, though, is that he’s comparing the band that kicked a hole in rock ‘n’ roll convention to…Cleopatra. Really, Pete? Really?

The book itself is massive: more than 350 pages of photos, scans of set lists and concert tickets, and day-by-day recreations of the band’s “first 20 years,” as director and band buddy Cameron Crowe writes in the forward. (It’s also one of a handful of releases and events—including a documentary by Crowe that screens at Seattle Cinerama from Sept 20-22 before airing on PBS—celebrating the anniversary.) The fact that it’s full of random little insights like Buck’s means the tome will border on TMI for the casual fan; but for PJ obsessives, it’s like being granted a retroactive backstage pass. I fall somewhere in between the two camps, but I can definitely see myself reading Pearl Jam 20 for hours with a pair of headphones in, blasting “State of Love and Trust” on repeat.

Pearl Jam 20 (Simon and Schuster, $20) is on sale Sept 13 at pj20.com.

Flashback 1992…MTV Unplugged

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Tags: Books & Talks, Pearl Jam , Pearl Jam Twenty, Seattle Cinerama

Fran Lebowitz. Dan Savage. One Stage.

But is that stage big enough?

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Sep 07, 2011 at 11:30AM 3 Comments

Fran Lebowitz on aging: “At a certain point, the worst picture taken of you when are 25 is better than the best picture taken of you when you’re 45."

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Fran Lebowitz on aging: “At a certain point, the worst picture taken of you when are 25 is better than the best picture taken of you when you’re 45."

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Dan Savage

Got word yesterday afternoon of an odd coupling at Benaroya Hall: Dan Savage and Fran Lebowitz will have a little unscripted chat on March 2, 2012 at 8pm, and tickets ($38–$47) are officially on sale at benaroyahall.org.

You can imagine what they might talk about: Fran was recently the subject of an HBO doc directed by Martin Scorsese, Public Speaking, and Dan has lots going on with the It Gets Better Project. But they could talk about Jane Austen and bedbugs for an hour and I’d be entertained. To wit: a few sample quotes from two endearing cranks (courtesy of a top-notch press release).

Fran on kids
Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he’s buying.
All God’s children are not beautiful. Most of God’s children are, in fact, barely presentable.

Dan on kids
Kids are like heroin, a little heroin addiction. When it’s bad, you’ve never been so miserable, but when it’s good you’ve never been so high.

Fran on “telling the truth”
Spilling your guts is exactly as charming as it sounds.

Dan on “telling the truth”
The truth is often a mixed message.

Fran on herself
Success didn’t spoil me, I’ve always been insufferable.
My favorite animal is steak.

Dan on himself
I waver between a cop-out agnostic and principled atheism.

Fran and Dan’s conversation concludes with a Q&A with the audience—start plotting your questions now.

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Tags: Books & Talks, Celebrities in Seattle, Dan Savage

TONIGHT: William Gibson Talks Tech Fetishes and Zero History at UW

We trust the man who came up with the word “cyberspace.”

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Aug 02, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Originally published August 2011. Now that Zero History (Berkley; August 2), by “cyberspace” coiner and Vancouver, BC, inhabitant William Gibson, is in paperback, we can devour the high-tech thriller as it was meant to be devoured: at the beach—at a gray-skies-and-even-grayer-seas Northwest beach. In this sequel to Spook Country, drug addict Milgrim and erstwhile rocker Hollis Henry uncover the secret connection between fashion and military apparel—using iPhones, Twitter, and every other imaginable technology of the moment. Choice line for coffee shop dwellers: “The cost of wifi was white pear tea.”

Hear Gibson talk about tech fetishes and cyberspace tonight at 7:30 at the University of Washington (Kane 130). Tickets are free with the purchase of Zero History ($16), or $5 otherwise.

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Tags: University District, Books & Talks, University Bookstore

Game of Thrones Author George R. R. Martin at Town Hall Seattle on Friday

Fanboys rejoice: He’s bringing his new book, A Dance With Dragons.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jul 25, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Karolina Webb.

That’s no sea captain George R. R. Martin has been called the “American Tolkien” by Time magazine.

I started watching new HBO series Game of Thrones in a panicked, post-Harry Potter state, when everyone was recommending fantasy or YA series to fill the void (The Hunger Games! Twilight!). Five days and 10 episodes later (thank you, On Demand), I was hooked on this Tolkien-esque soap opera with its warring noble families trying to out-crazy each other in their make-believe kingdom. There’s swordplay, murder, incest, dragon babies, and the looming threat of a deadly winter and bloodthirsty woodland spirits migrating south. Amazingly, 10 hours of Emmy-nominated TV comes from one 800-page book by novelist George R. R. Martin—the first in his series A Song of Ice and Fire, as elaborate an epic as the Lord of the Rings trilogy with the feverish following of Pottermania. Fanboys have been hooked since the first installment came out in 1996, and have patiently awaited the fifth and latest novel, A Dance With Dragons, for the last six years. What took him so long?

“Look how thick it is,” Martin said at a New York book signing, holding up the 1,000-page tome (Associated Press). Fair point. He also has two more Ice and Fire books planned, bringing the total number to seven by … 2020? How long will Martin’s beard be by then?

The Ice and Fire author will be at Town Hall Seattle on Friday at 7:30pm to talk about Whitewalkers and dragons and direwolves. Tickets are $35 (includes one copy of A Dance with Dragons), and can be reserved by calling 206-545-4363.

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Tags: Books & Talks

Today’s Met Pick: Miranda Kennedy at Elliott Bay Books

The NPR journalist talks about modern India and riding Sideways on a Scooter.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jul 11, 2011 at 12:00PM 0 Comments

Delhi’s stale April air caught in my throat. Each breath had already been recycled through millions of Indian mouths, I imagined, growing hotter and thicker with each exhale. This is what it must feel like inside a burka: It was as though I was enclosed from head to tow in black cotton and inhaling the fabric that covered my mouth as I tried to scoop the dusty soup into my lungs.

So begins Miranda Kennedy’s new memoir Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India, a glimpse into the life of a twentysomething New York journalist who plunks herself down in Delhi with the hope of becoming a freelance foreign correspondent. She leaves a little over five years later with a better understanding of herself and the bustling country she adopted—its economic growth and social struggles, caste system and arranged marriages. Yes, it sounds like Eat, Pray, Love drenched in curry, but it’s written by a talented NPR writer/producer who describes modern India—particularly its modern women—with wit and compassion. She’ll read from Sideways tonight at 7 at Elliott Bay Book Company, and joins the Eye on India Seattle literary festival on July 13 at Seattle Asian Art Museum.

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Tags: Books & Talks