THURSDAY 9/13

Richard Seidman
The Oracle of Kabbalah: Mystical Teachings of the Hebrew Letters. Looking Glass Bookstore, 318 SW Taylor, 227-4760, 7 pm

Danny Seo
Self proclaimed "lifestyle expert," Seo's book tells how to make candles from old candles, what to do with that stack of Altoids tins, and other ways to turn trash into useful clutter. Hoping to establish himself as the "organic Martha Stewart," and voted into People's 50 Most Beautiful. He's a 24-year-old fancy pants, with a NY opening hosted by Christy Turlington. Smith & Hawken, 26 NW 23rd Place, 7 pm


FRIDAY 9/14

Poems Over Broadway
Open Mic, open to all. Barnes & Noble Northeast (Lloyd Center), 1231 NE Broadway, 335-0201, 7 pm, Free

Timothy Zahn
Angelmass. More science fiction from this Hugo award winner. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm


SATURDAY 9/15

* Blake Nelson & Sam Hamill
Blake Nelson is the author of Girl, which continues to find increasing devotion among readers, including teenage girls who can't believe the truth of the narrator's angst-ridden life. Nelson is a Portlander, and his upcoming novel, User, is so grounded in Portland it could be used as a map. This novel circles around Quest nightclub, moving to the now-defunct Monte Carlo, and at times even into the West Hills. A pack of young urbanites strive to be ever more cool, reaching for heroin and unavailable girls, and finding everything grow oddly available. It's a stark book, quickly moving, with dialogue that reveals a great lack of heart in so much social striving. Creepy and compelling. Sam Hamill is a knock-out, too, a big time award winner--NEA, Guggenheim, Woodrow Wilson, Pushcart, Pacific Northwest Booksellers, and Washington Governor's Award--worth the drive to the beach. He's also director of the Port Townsend Writers' Conference. Nye Beach Writers' Series, Studio Theatre Performing Arts Center, 777 West Olive, (541) 574-7708, 7 pm, $7

* Peter Schjeldahl
Art critic for the New Yorker, former art critic for the Village Voice, and contributor to Seven Days and The New York Times, Schjeldahl will be in Portland to discuss Clement Greenberg. Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave, 226-2811, 2 pm


SUNDAY 9/16

Hank Lentfer
Slide talk based on Lentfer's anthology of essays about the proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including many big name contributors. Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 246-0053, 5 pm


MONDAY 9/17

Jane Kirkpatrick
The conclusion to the Kinship and Courage series. What Once We Loved looks at exactly that, kinship and courage on the frontier. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm


TUESDAY 9/18

Science Fiction Book Group
Year's Best SF Sixth Edition, edited by David Hartwell. Borders-Beaverton, 2605 SW Cedar Hills, 644-1498, 7 pm

* Adam Gopnick
Paris to the Moon. New York readers have followed this story in article form, and here's the whole tale of what it means to be an American writer, a man with a family, in Paris, making life work. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm


WEDNESDAY 9/19

Open Mic Poetry
A new venue, an enthusiastic organizer, another opportunity to find a community of like-minded poets. Get up and read. Andiamo Espresso, 6014 NE Glisan, 233-1953, 8 pm

* Salman Rushdie
Rushdie will read from Fury, his eighth novel. See "My What A Busy Week" for more info. First Congregational Church, 1126 SW Park Ave, 228-4651, 7:30 pm

* Jonathan Ames and Arthur Bradford
Arthur Bradford's debut fiction collection, Dogwalker, has found nothing but praise and praise and praise. Dark, strange, wild. Even more--Bradford is willing to arm-wrestle all who dare, winners receive a free book! Jonathan Ames is the author of I Pass Like the Night, The Extra Man and a New York Press column. Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 238-1668, 7:30 pm