The Angels of Catastrophe Peter Plate (Seve Stories Press) At it’s weakest, noir is only about fashion. It’s about style. It’s a sublimated designer’s urge transferred and resurfacing through a guise of machismo. The setup? A good guy looking for a bad guy, trying to solve a crime or a string or crimes in any […]
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In the City of Shy Hunters
Book Review
In the City of Shy Hunters Tom Spanbauer (Grove Press) Tom Spanbauer is an amazing man. He’s an incredible teacher and writer. We’re lucky to have him, living here in town. When he first moved to Portland, over a decade ago, I took one of his initial writing workshops. There were only about six of […]
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THURSDAY 6/21 Steven Johnson Leyba Coyote, Satan, America. Leyba is a legally ordained priest in the Churc of Satan, an advocate of the swastika, who creates paintings with sperm, blood, and paint. Lots of anger, lots of rage. Powell’s Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 238-1668, 7:30 pm Sam Lightner All Elevations Unknown. Climbing […]
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FRIDAY 6/15 Writers from “The Attic” David Biespiel, Merridawn Duckler, Tricia Snell. Alysia Duckler Gallery, 1236 NW Hoyt St, 223-7595, 7 pm Diane Breher Inner Gardening: soul as sacred gardening, writing as over-extended metaphor. From the author of Tao of Inner Peace and other Tao of books. Barnes & Noble Northeast (Lloyd Center), 1231 NE […]
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The World of Normal Boys
Book Review
The World of Normal Boys Karl Soehnlein (Kensington) It’s award time again! This year’s round of Lambda Literary Award winners (a national award for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered oriented writing) was announced May 31. Portland’s own Judith Barrington came in first in lesbian nonfiction for her autobiography, Lifesaving. Barrington recently celebrated her 25th anniversary […]
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THURSDAY 6/7 Pamela Berkman Her Infinite Variety. Ten stories, each based on a woman in Shakespeare’s life. Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd Ave, 224-6203, 7:30 pm FRIDAY 6/8 Nani Power Crawling at Night. The story of a sushi chef who reads pornographic magazines alone at night, pining for his love, an alcoholic waitress who […]
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Pastoralia: Stories
Book Reviews
Pastoralia: Stories George Saunders (Riverhead Books) Poor old Hobbes, that social contract theorist, spoke out of fear and an unfortunate truth, too, when he said the life of man is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Hobbes was pleading for a unified front against the evils of individual, misinformed choices and the possibility of civil […]
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THURSDAY 5/31 Ehud Havazelet Sponsored by Mountain Writers. Havazelet is the author of two story collections, What Is It Between Us? and Like Never Before. Oregon Book Award winner, Most Notable according to the NY & LA Times, Whiting Award Winner & Pushcart Award Winner. A heavy hitter in the field, and a local. Portland […]
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Cobralingus
Book Review
Cobralingus Jeff Noon (Codex Books) “Writers are still, with some honourable exceptions, using storytelling techniques invented in the 19th century,” says linguistic provocateur and self-described post-futurist, Jeff Noon. “We need to expand the notion of what a story is, and to seek out new ways of telling these stories. We need to be brave in […]
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THURSDAY 5/24 Greg Rucka & Bodyguard An author traveling with his muse, the professional bodyguard. Come a half hour early and join in the social. Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center, 1819 NW Everett, 228-6972, 7:30 pm Jennifer Belle High Maintenance. The slick comedy of real estate deals in NY, and all those fabulous penthouses. Powell’s Books […]
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Choke
Book Review
Choke Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday) Broadway Books, 284-1726 Tuesday, May 29 This week, Portland’s literary star and Mercury‘s own contributor, Chuck Palahniuk, unveils his latest novel, Choke. For ten years, I’ve been writing alongside Palahniuk, thrilled with his sentences, his quick moves, his ideas. Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Survivor–they’ve all shown Palahniuk’s ability to spin a […]
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THURSDAY 5/17 Sandra Ford Walston Motivational speaking…Courage: The Heart and Spirit of Every Woman. See when you’ve been courageous and didn’t even know it. Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 246-0053, 7:30 pm Clark Blaise Time Lord: Sir Sanford Fleming and the Creation of Standard Time. Coming up with the Prime Meridian wasn’t as […]