She's been called (by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, no less): "America's only real rock 'n' roll schoolteacher." Local literary hero Rebecca Brown reads tonight from her new book, American Romances, with essays on such all-American topics as the Beach Boys, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and faith. With Portland's Lidia Yuknavitch. Elliott Bay Bookstore, 7:30 p.m., free.