Andrew Vachss
Pain Management. An interesting counterpoint to the Stephen Elliot reading earlier in the week. (see Elliot, PSU, 11/8). Elliot tells the semi-autobiographical story of what it means to be a state-raised kid, heading for delinquency. Vachss uses the same starting point to built the fictional character, Burke, an "urban survivalist whose only religion is revenge." One in a series of books based on the premise. Borders Books and Music, 708 SW 3rd Ave, 220-5911, 7 pm
Denie and Shelley Hiestand
Electrical Nutrition: A Revolutionary Approach to Eating that Awakens the Body's Natural Electrical Energy. From the founders of the Institute of Vibrational Wellness. Borders-Beaverton, 2605 SW Cedar Hills, 644-1498, 7 pm
* Ernest Gaines
A native of rural Louisiana, picking cotton in the fields at nine years old, making his way across the country and on to hold a prestigious writing fellowship at Stanford University. Ernest Gaines. Here's a voice that's been finding print for over 35 years, honoring and exploring the lives of Louisiana's population, black, white, creole, and mulatto. Author of A Lesson Before Dying, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Other titles include, Of Love and Dust, Catherine Carmier, In My Father's House, and many more. Lewis & Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, 768-7495, 7:30 pm
* Stephen Elliott
A Life Without Consequences is a book that admits to riding the thin line between fact and fiction. It's the fictionalized account of the author's true story as a runaway, a homeless youth headed for a short life of foster care, rehab, and minimal education. Instead, Elliott saw his way to turn that around, and now holds one of the more prestigious positions in the world of writing and academia as a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. PSU, Smith Memorial Center, 1620 SW Park, 7:30 pm
Terrence Hayes
Author of Muscular Music. Big time award winning poetry. Reed College, Psychology Auditorium, 3203 SE Woodstock, 777-7591, 8 pm
Gretel Ehrlich
This Cold Heaven Greenland, Polar Eskimos, and the story of Knud Rasmussen. A well-researched book of one of the world's least discussed civilizations. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm
James Welch
The Heartsong of Charging Elk Winner of the Pacific Northwest Bookseller's Association Book of the Year Award. Ready to have your heart broken? A sad story of mistreatment mingled with fate, the smallness of human effort. A Native American recruited into a traveling circus is left behind in France while recovering from the flu. Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 246-0053, 5 pm
Free Writers Resource Fair
Writers, clustering together to plan, scheme, sell, schmooze. Here they are: Portland State University's Center for Excellence in Writing, Literary Arts, Media Weavers, The Northwest Association of Book Publishers, Oregon Writers Colony, Soapstone, Willamette Writers, and WRAP, all in one place. Central Library, 801 SW 10th Ave, 248-5234, 1:30-4:30 pm
With Love and Squalor: Writings on JD Salinger
There's a lot of love-hate in this book, with essays like "Holden Schmolden," (Aimee Bender) and "Goodbye Holden Caufield. I Mean it. Go! Goodbye!" (Walter Kirn) At times it feels like assigned work, at other times it opens to more. An all-star line up of contributors, including Charles D'Ambrosio, sex columnist Amy Sohn, and Jane Mendelsohn. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm
I Love Monday! Poetry Night
Poetry with Dan Raphael and friends. Borders Books and Music, 708 SW 3rd Ave, 220-5911, 7 pm
Edmond Pope
Torpedoed The true story of Pope's conviction for espionage in Russia. 253 days in prison! Yikes! And yes, the CIA has a hand in this too... Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 238-1668, 7:30 pm
Chelsea Minnis and Catherine Wagner
Fence magazine turns to book publishing! Hear from the author's who wrote the inaugural works: Zirconia, and Miss America, respectively. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm
Romance Book Group
The Prisoner, by Karyn Monk. Borders-Beaverton, 2605 SW Cedar Hills, 644-1498, 7 pm
Katie Schneider
All We Know of Love. A book that starts in one place and opens up to grasp at wider and more far flung material, traveling great geographic distances to find more of the same human emotions available close to home. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, 284-1726, 7 pm
John Colapinto
About the Author. Comedy based on bookselling, falsified identity, and fame. Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 246-0053, 7:30 pm
Mystery Book Group
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely. Borders-Beaverton, 2605 SW Cedar Hills, 644-1498, 7 pm
Varieties of Realism: What Sort of Ontology Do We Need?
I love these lectures, if only for the titles alone. Part of the ongoing philosophy colloquia. Lewis & Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, 768-7495, 5 pm
Russian Authors on Tour
The perfect follow-up to Edmond Pope's tale of life in a Russian Prison! Here we have four Russian authors telling first hand accounts, journalism, and social commentary. Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 238-1668, 7:30 pm
