Susie Bright

Is the pen really mightier than the sword?

The 2007 Top Sellers list from Capitol Hill’s Bailey/Coy bookstore is fairly standard: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, that kind of thing. But more than one employee listed The Ethical Slut, by Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt, in their personal Top Ten. Their love for the controversially juicy primer on polyamory is a reminder of what city you live in, and what neighborhood you probably live in if Susie Bright’s forthcoming appearance at the bookstore is cause for joy. The author and sex educator is one of many in town this month (see www.sexpositiveculture.org for workshops with San Francisco’s Midori), and she’s celebrating The Best of Best American Erotica 2008, the latest in the anthology series she founded in 1993. It’s also the final installment. I asked Bright’s publicist why—has interest waned? Are there fewer writers making quality erotica? Maybe Bright is just moving on. Since I didn’t get a response, join your sex-positive and books-curious neighbors by asking Ms. Bright that (or whatever you want) herself. Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway Ave. E., 323-8842. Free. 7 p.m. RACHEL SHIMP

Tue., Feb. 19, 7 p.m., 2008