Books
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Alexandra Fuller Anyone familiar with Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fuller’s 2001 account of childhood during Rhodesia’s bloody civil war, will immediately recognize in this new memoir her masterful ability to write about a person’s ties to home and her obsessive deconstruction of her larger-than-life parents. Those parents, and her African upbringing, are at the core of Leaving Before the Rains Come (Penguin, $26.95), this time used as a lens through which to assess the collapse of her marriage. Unlike other stories of divorce, this one cleaves profoundly to place-with Africa standing in for her and America for her husband. “Domestically,” she writes, “our two cultures had come into opposition like participants in a nominally friendly sports competition and clashed more aggressively than was necessary.” Fuller’s preoccupation with her own story, her own background, her own dogged romanticizing of her Rhodesian identity at times threatens to overshadow the topic at hand. Rains sometimes feels like an extended arm of her earlier work. Yet because that prior material is so intensely rich, and so obviously the true love of her life, it’s always a pleasure to read, or reread as the case may be. And while that diverting pull never releases, she gradually eases us into the narrative of her marriage and of motherhood-and we realize it could never have been told without those powerful ties to her heritage. Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., 386-4636, spl.org. Free. 7 p.m. Nicole Sprinkle Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104 Free Thursday, February 5, 2015, 7pm
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Nick Hornby If you’ve seen Wild, you’ll know that the English novelist Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) has become an expert adapter of what once used to be called women’s stories. Perhaps appropriately then, his new Funny Girl (Riverhead, $29.75) follows a provincial beauty queen through her meteoric early success as a sitcom star of the mid-’60s. Swiftly renamed Sophie Straw, our plucky heroine is a bit like Georgy Girl: a single girl arrived in London at a time when single girls were suddenly presented with a whole new menu of freedoms. And more, Sophie becomes on TV an emblem for newly outspoken, emancipated single girls who are colliding with the old notions of class and gender roles. Yet she’s a careerist, happiest when working, and determined to succeed on the Beeb. I didn’t realize until reading the endnotes to Hornby’s happy, humorous novel how many real-life TV industry references and shows he’d interpolated into the plot. In a sense, Funny Girl is his imagining of the backstage intrigues and affairs of an imaginary sitcom during the era when he grew up, glued to the box. It is, like his prior novels, a warmly affirmative affair, with no villains or serious setbacks. And, Hollywood take note, it’ll offer a plum role to an actress who’d look great in vintage Carnaby Street fashions and knows how to sell a joke. Carey Mulligan had her turn in An Education (adapted by Hornby), so I’ll cast my vote for Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything). But who will play Terence Stamp for the Terence Stamp cameo? BRIAN MILLER Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101 $35-$40 Sunday, February 8, 2015, 7:30pm
Sheri Fink Presented by Seattle Arts & Lectures, the author discusses her Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, about the aftermath to Hurricane Katrina Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101 $15-$50 Tuesday, February 10, 2015, 7:30 – 9:30pm
Seattle Poetry Slam Local poets share their verse and spoken word compositions. 21 and over. Rebar, 1114 Howell StreetSeattle, WA $5 Tuesday, February 10, 2015, 8 – 11:30pm
Daniel Handler The author also known as Lemony Snicket discusses his new novel We Are Pirates. Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104 Free Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 7 – 8pm
David Treuer His new novel Prudence has already received high praise from Toni Morrison. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Richelle Mead
The Ruby Circle: A Bloodlines Novel is the conclusion of the <i>Bloodlines</i> series. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 7 – 8pm
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Issa Rae
Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl is a collection of personal essays on everything from cybersexing to self-acceptance. UW Ethnic Cultural Center, 3931 Brooklyn Avenue Northeast, Seattle, WA 98105 Free Thursday, February 12, 2015, 6:30 – 7:30pm
Matt Zoller Seitz The <i>New York Magazine</i> critic and EIC at RogerEbert.com discusses his new book The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel filled with interviews and insight on the making of the film. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Thursday, February 12, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Scott McCloud One of the most recognized authorities in comics, he discusses his new graphic novel, Sculptor.
University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Thursday, February 12, 2015, 7 – 8pm
David J. Morris
The Evil Hours: a Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress is an eye-opening look at PTSD. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Friday, February 13, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Lynsey Addario It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War is her illustrated memoir as of life as a photojournalist in numerous war zones. Seattle Public Library, Central Branch, Washington Mutual Foundation Room 11000 Fourth Avenue, Seattle Free Friday, February 13, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Shannon Galpin She discusses her activism work in her memoir Mountain to Mountain.
University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Friday, February 13, 2015, 7 – 8pm
David Domke Marching to Selma: How MLK, LBJ & the Civil Rights Movement Changed the World is the fourth lecture in a five-part series. University of Washington Campus, 15th Ave. N.E. and N.E. 41st St., Seattle, WA 98105 Free Monday, February 16, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Marianne Apostolides In Wyckoff Auditorium, she reads from her novel Book Thug. Discussion follows with Seattle U prof Jason Wirth. Seattle University, 901 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Monday, February 16, 2015, 7 – 9pm
Christian G. Appy The University of Massechussetts, Amherst history professor discusses his new now, American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101 Free Monday, February 16, 2015, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Kelly Link The author of Magic for Beginners and Pretty Monsters discusses her new book Get in Trouble. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Tuesday, February 17, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Seattle Poetry Slam Local poets share their verse and spoken word compositions. 21 and over. Rebar, 1114 Howell StreetSeattle, WA $5 Tuesday, February 17, 2015, 8 – 11:30pm
Carmen Boullosa
Texas: The Great Theft is the new book from Mexican novelist, poet, and playwright. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Jeanine Walker The local writer reads excerpts from her play Polarities, set in 1993 and based on her youthful experiences. Hollow Earth Radio, 2018 E. Union St., #A, Seattle, WA 98122 FREE Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Stealing the Game is the second in series from the basketball star. Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104 Free Thursday, February 19, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Kyle Boelte The Seattle memoirist makes his fiction debut with The Beautiful Unseen. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Thursday, February 19, 2015, 7 – 8pm
Mark Doten He discusses his debut novel about the War on Terror, The Infernal. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 Free Friday, February 20, 2015, 7 – 8pm
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David Axelrod The liberal Chicago journalist became a political consultant and trusted advisor to future President Obama, as detailed in his new memoir Believer: My Forty Years in Politics. Steve Scher gets up in his grill. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101 $38.05 Friday, February 20, 2015, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Jonathan D. Moreno The bioethicist discusses Impromptu Man, a biography about the impact his renowned father J.L. Moreno had on his life. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101 Free Friday, February 20, 2015, 7:30 – 8:30pm
Seattle Poetry Slam Local poets share their verse and spoken word compositions. 21 and over. Rebar, 1114 Howell StreetSeattle, WA $5 Tuesday, February 24, 2015, 8 – 11:30pm
