Mark Helprin at Elliott Bay Books

Seattlest were big fans of Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale. Granted, we're suckers for fantasyland versions of New York City, but the man has a way with words. We were young, idealistic and Democrat enough to be disappointed, however, when we found out that Helprin wrote Bob Dole's Senate retirement speech -- though even then we'd admit that it was a high point of Dole's campaign.

So we haven't read Memoir from Antproof Case. Yet. And now, older and wiser and less dedicated to the ideological purity of our literary idols, perhaps we'll skip ahead to his latest novel, this year's Freddy and Fredericka.

Whichever one we pick up first, we're looking forward to seeing the novelist and Claremont Institute fellow in person and getting a preview of Freddy and Fredericka at Elliott Bay Books.

Mark Helprin appears at Elliott Bay Books at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

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By James in Arts & Events on August 1, 2005 9:52 AM

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CHRIS COMTE

Aw crap! I'm going to miss this.

Despite Mr. Helprin's brief (and hopefully terminated) flirtation with the GOP, I've read all of his works; in fact, I frequently purchase extra copies of "Winters Tale", just so I can give them to friends when they ask for a good read. I've read it five or six times since first discovering it in the early '90's, and it's on my short-list as one of my all-time favorite novels.

And don't forget "The Pacific", a collection of short stories that came out in 2004...