THURSDAY 11/16

Cory Doctorow
Doctorow might be best known as co-editor of the wildly popular website Boing Boing, but he's also a respected sci-fi writer and vocal proponent of Creative Commons, which aims to loosen the collar of copyright laws so that artists, musicians, and writers can sample and build upon existent works of art. Expect an engaging fleshing-out of these principles in Doctorow's free lecture tonight, called "What's the Point of Copyright?" PSU's Smith Student Union Building, Room 338, 1825 SW Broadway, 725-5666, 5 pm, free

Phase One: Words + Music
Word on the streets is that since Phase One moved their song and words showcase to Chinatown, the bang-for-your-buck ration went up roughly 137 percent. Tonight's lineup looks particularly punchy, with local cool dudes Jonathan Raymond, Kevin Sampsell, Arrington de Dionyso, Modernstate, and others providing the literary and musical nutrition. Only question: Not a single woman on the bill? Come on, now. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th, 248-2900, 8 pm-midnight, $5

MONDAY 11/20

Frank McCourt
McCourt, the celebrated Irish author of Angela's Ashes, is back with Teacher Man, a memoir of three decades' worth of teaching high school English in New York City. Tardiness to tonight's event will be counted as an absence, and absolutely zero backtalk will be tolerated. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 227-2583, 7:30 pm, $10-26

Erik Larson
Powell's has a big, bad new Beaverton location, and to help break it in, they've invited Erik Larson to read from his new book, Thunderstruck. Larson's previous book, The Devil in the White City, was about as big of a smash as you can have these days without writing about muggles or Masonic-encoded painting, and Thunderstruck looks equally thrilling, with a genius, a murderer, and an engrossing criminal chase. Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills, Beaverton, 228-4651, 7 pm, free