THURSDAY 7/6

Philip Margolin
Hometown boy Margolin's back with Proof Positive, about a criminal who knows so much CSI shit that he's always outwitting the police. Stupid cops. Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 246-0053, 7:30 pm, free

Cirkus
Now that circuses have replaced Manhattan apartments as the ubiquitous setting for debut novels, here's the lesbian, American Midwest, summer of 1900 version. Yay. In Other Words, 8 NE Killingsworth, 232-6003, 7:30 pm, free

FRIDAY 7/7

Best of Tin House
The day I snagged a copy of Tin House's fiction anthology, I tore through five stories, three of which absolutely, 100% floored me. One was "End of the Line" by Aimee Bender, about a man who buys a tiny human at a pet store, and another was "Will They Kill You in Iraq?", set in the middle of the war, 1990. Both incredible. Both authors here tonight. Also: celebrated author Jim Shepard. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free

SUNDAY 7/9

Lorrie Moore
Lorrie Moore's prose makes you want to touch your nose and point. If all the flailing and flapping we do in life is one big game of charades, she's figured out how to express it in words. The problem is she hasn't written enough; once you finish with her stories you want to hold out your hands and say "More, please." So catch her while you can. (KB) Interview with Elissa Schappell to follow reading. Presented by the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. Cerf Amphitheatre, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock, 258-9313, 8 pm, $5

MONDAY 7/10

Girls in Peril
The first in Tin House's "New Voice" series, Karen Lee Boren's debut novel features five adolescent girls in Wisconsin, each telling their tales in the first person, about the summer that innocence slipped away. Borders (Downtown), 708 SW 3rd, 221-9814, 7 pm, free

Karen Karbo, Elissa Schappell, Dorothy Allison
Things get heavy and then things get tough tonight: Karen Karbo's The Stuff of Life details, with brutal honesty, the author's stint as caregiver for her curmudgeonly father when he's diagnosed with cancer; Schappell's Use Me follows Evelyn over the course of 10 interconnected stories as she transforms from teenager to weary adult, with all the attendant heartache; and Allison has essentially redefined the process of turning pain into art with her books like Bastard Out of Carolina. Presented by the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. Cerf Amphitheatre, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock, 258-9313, 8 pm, $5

An Evening with Beowulf and Grendel
Why don't they ever do Evenings with Books that I Like? Confederacy of Dunces? The Tipping Point? Anyone? Beowulf, of course, was Dungeons & Dragons for ninth-century Anglo-Saxons, and Grendel was John Gardner's retelling from the villain's point of view. Twenty-five bucks to whoever first hosts An Evening with Revolutionary Road. Please? Grendel's Coffee House, 729 E Burnside, 595-9550, 7:30 pm, free

TUESDAY 7/11

Lee Montgomery, Anthony Swofford, Charles D'Ambrosio
Anthony Swofford wrote Jarhead and represents a new generation of war writers. Move over, Tim O'Brien and Micheal Herr: There's a new veteran in town. If you love war and you love memoirs, yell "Semper Fi!" (KB) Presented by the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. Cerf Amphitheatre, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock, 258-9313, 8 pm

Lost and Found
Wait, what? A novel that gently satirizes the TV show The Amazing Race while hinging its entire conceit on the show's premise. Wow. Thanks, Carolyn Parkhurst! Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free

WEDNESDAY 7/12

Girls in Peril
See Monday's listing. 23rd Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd Ave, 224-5097, 7 pm, free

Crawl Space
A terse, award-winning novel about Emile Poulquet, who awaits sentencing for his role in the Holocaust 50 years prior. Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 246-0053, 7:30 pm, free

Michael Ondaatje
Getting tired of these Tin House readings at Reed yet? Me neither! Check this one out: Michael Ondaatje, who will probably always be remembered for writing The English Patient, but he's got so much more up his sleeve. Coming Through Slaughter, a beautiful, small, impressionistic novel, brings 100-year-old New Orleans jazz into remarkably crisp, metaphorical focus, and in The Conversations, he and film editor Walter Murch (The English Patient, Apocalypse Now, Jarhead) beautifully discuss the acts of storytelling and creation with a wonderful immediacy and wisdom. Cerf Amphitheatre, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock, 258-9313, 8 pm, $5