Readings, Signings, and the Pit of Despair for the Week of August 30th

It’s a relatively quiet week for the Seattle literary scene, due to the closure of all Seattle Public Library branches, and the hoopla of Bumbershoot. On the bright side, this means that no Library materials are due and no late fines are accrued, for a week. On the less bright side, the Library is closed! Oh, the horror. And there is horror aplenty on this week’s calendar, with genocide, environmental destruction, and yet more evidence that U.S. immigration policy and procedure has been less than stellar for many, many shameful decades.

Next week there will be a happy, fluffy bunny reading if I have to make it up.

08/30/10 12 a.m. The Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library system is closed Aug. 30 through Sept. 6
In order to help meet $3M in budget cuts, the entire system is shutting down for a week, saving about $655K. This year, as opposed to last, some online Library services will be available. To leave a comment for the city librarian or the Library Board, call 206-684-0471. Be polite.

08/31/10 12 p.m. Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Jayne Castle (Jayne Ann Krentz)
Midnight Crystal
The (not very) pseudonymous author will sign book three in her Dreamlight Trilogy.

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09/01/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Judith Armatta
Twilight of Impunity: The War Crimes Trial of Slobodan Milosevic
I have to admit, the whole genocide thing really freaks me out. The last time I tried to read one of these sorts of books, I had screaming nightmares for weeks, after getting through only a few dozen pages. I can’t imagine what the journalist who reported on Milosevic’s trial could talk about that wouldn’t send me back into therapy. I’m not proud.

09/01/10 7 p.m. Town Hall Seattle
Matthew Kahn
Climatopolis
The author will talk about “Urban Life in a Hotter World.” Soylent Green is PEEEEEEOPLE! You heard it here, first.

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09/02/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
New Poets of the American West
Many Voices Press
Over two dozen poets are scheduled to read at this event. I like poetry, but ye gods, man! Think of the children!

09/02/10 7:30 p.m. Town Hall Seattle
Erika Lee & Judy Yung
Angel Island
Not a happy, heartwarming Ellis Island-type story. More like ye-gods, yet more institutionalized racism. How does this shit happen? And when will it end? Maybe Lee and Young’s talk on  “Immigration Lessons From Angel Island” will offer solutions. Ideas? Suggestions? Anyone? Bueller?

09/03/10 12:30 p.m. UW Bookstore
Dave Mustaine
Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir
This is a signing, and only a signing. Buy a book, get it signed. The end.

09/03/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Ralph Metzner
Birth of a Psychedelic Culture: Conversations about the Harvard Experiments, Leary, Millbrook and the Sixties
I will be very, very grateful when we can all quit rehashing the 1960s. It should be known as the Decade That Analyzed Itself Into the Ground. Seriously, the first books on the Sixties came out when the decade wasn’t even a year old, and America has been navel-gazing ever since. Let’s move it along, people.

09/04/10 12 p.m. Seattle Mystery Bookshop
L.J. Sellers
Thrilled to Death
The prime suspect in a murder is a shut-in. Sort of a reverse-locked room mystery. An interesting idea, actually. Third in a series.

09/04/10 12 p.m. Bumbershoot
Words & Ideas
There’s an odd mix on the schedule for this year, but it seems more cued to local culture than last year’s programs: fewer television professionals; more radio and internet content; more regional guests and content. Personally, I like it. Check it out, tell us what you think.