THURSDAY 2/17
Anson Wright Local jazz musician/writer Anson Wright has some good ideas and some good stories to tell in his new poetry collection Sandstone Monastery. In "Prayer for Carrie Claire Into Space, Eternal" he wishes an aborted child Godspeed on its "journey/ back into/ the stars." In "Visionary" a cancer victim likens people to bronze statues whose bronze has "run/ into the vacuum... Cancer fills these spaces/ like hot bronze." Wright, who based many of these poems on his frequent travels to Chaco Canyon, NM, is capable of conjuring sad and lovely images, but his poetic stylings are virtually nonexistent. He utilizes the format I call "The List," in which what basically amounts to fluid prose sentences arbitrarily broken into a poetic-looking list of verse. JWS Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd Ave, 224-5097, 7:30 pm
FRIDAY 2/18
Michael Shermer Shermer presents his new book Science Friction, a rather dense collection of essays about the affects of scientific reasoning in a modern age. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651, 7:30 pm
SATURDAY 2/19
Allan Antliff Anarchists unite! Wait, isn't unity against the ideals of Anarchy? Hmm, guess we'd better read editor Antliff's book Only A Beginning: An Anarchist Anthology, a collection of writings that illuminates 25 years of anarchist theory in the U.S. and Canada. And guess we'd better come to Antliff's reading tonight, too. Laughing Horse, 3625 SE Division, 236-2893, 7 pm, free
WEDNESDAY 2/23
Fred Newman Newman specializes in creating noises like car crashes and toilet plungings... with his mouth. He's allegedly provided the sound effects for dozens of movies, and wants to give you the same career opportunity with his new book Mouthsounds: How to Whistle, Pop, Boing and Bonk for all Occasions... and then some. Barnes & Noble (Jantzen Beach), 1720 N Jantzen Beach, 283-2800, 6 pm