This Week in Lit: Cigarettes, God and Socializing with the Ladies
Though the sun is shining (mostly), we’re going to lure you inside this week with amazing lit events that have heart…and brains. Everything from Shakespearean-inspiration at the Grotto to pizza-filled parties at rock clubs, to burning questions about God-don’t even try to resist.
Oscar Hijuelos at Town Hall:
This event with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Oscar Hijuelos, is presented by Seattle Arts and Lectures—and it shows another angle of the prolific writer who is so respected for his fiction. Hijuelos’ new autobiographical work, Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir, focuses on his childhood as the U.S. born son of Cuban immigrants, and pays tribute to his father who introduced him to the colorful and dynamic world in NYC.
Monday, 7:30 p.m. // Town Hall // $15 general, $30 patron, available at www.lectures.org
Chris Adrian with Paul Constant at The Grotto at The Rendezvous:
Not only is this Rendezvous space kick-ass and creepy in the best kind of way, but the entertainment is bound to be…entertaining. Chris Adrian will be swinging in to discuss his new novel, The Great Night, which is his retelling of the fan favorite “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Though this tale takes place in San Francisco in 2008—the good, supernatural highlights remain the same. And with Stranger books editor Paul Constant around to spice up the conversation, the night promises to be great—get it?
Tuesday, 7 p.m. // The Grotto at The Rendezvous // Free
Vanessa Veselka at The Sunset Tavern:
I always get excited about events that occur outside the normal book-world location realm. So I’m pumped that Portland author Vanessa Veselka is reading from her debut novel Zazen at The Sunset Tavern—and the fact that Flying Squirrel Pizza is for sale during that reading only intensifies my excitement. Veselka has written for Bust and Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll, and her new book centers on the counterculture world of a twenty-something girl in an America that is (mostly) collapsed. Pizza, booze, and counterculture—we have it all.
Wednesday, 7 p.m. // The Sunset Tavern // Free
Marya Hornbacher at Lake Forest Park Third Place Books:
On a more serious note, the author of New York Times best sellers Madness and Wasted is in the house (at Third Place Books) to promote her latest book Waiting: A Non-Believer’s Higher Power. Her newest work essentially explores the concept of faith—faith in regards to everything from dealing with alcoholism and AA, to realizing that one’s idea of God or a Higher Power can vary immensely from the image that another has. Hornbacher seems to take a logical, coherent look at the struggle with understanding the spiritual life, and her current work with the graduate writing program at Northwestern University also speaks volumes about her literary talents.
Wednesday, 7 p.m. // Third Place Books, Ravenna // Free
Jennifer M. Ross-Nazzal at the Harvard Exit Theater:
This event really reminds us how fascinating the Seattle suffragist movement was—and the 120-year-old Seattle social club for ladies that is The Woman’s Century Club only adds to that intrigue. Historian Jennifer M. Ross-Nazzal will discuss her new biography, Winning the West for Women: The Life of Suffragist Emma Smith DeVoe in the parlor of the Harvard Exit Theater. Not only do we get to visit another unique venue (which was actually built by the Woman’s Century Club in 1925), but we also get a glimpse into the world of those early, feisty women that paved the way. Not a shabby way to spend your lunch hour.
Friday, 1 p.m. // Harvard Exit Theater // Free, RSVP to president@womanscenturyclub.org or by calling 206.322.9565
