April 2008

  • The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton

    Hamilton’s best-known title is Hangover Square, but I think that the recently re-printed The Slaves of Solitude may be a better introduction to his genius to most readers, with its more measured, benevolent view of human folly and its sympathetic heroine — the sober, bewildered Miss Roach. Having fled the bombings, Roach returns from London each night to a boarding house in a quiet suburb where she… Continue reading

  • Science On Tap – Brains and Brew in Seattle

     Brains and Brew – a perfect combination in this city of microbrewers and techies.  I am a huge fan of science writing in the vein of Stephen J. Gould, Carl Sagan and E. O. Wilson.  The only drawback I’ve ever found to science books is the lack of immediacy.  It takes years for a scientist… Continue reading

  • Flash Contest: Win Tickets to Marjane Satrapi!

    Shelf Talk has two tickets to An Evening with Marjane Satrapi at The Moore Theatre, this coming Monday, April 14, @ 7:30 PM. Marjane Satrapi is a critically acclaimed writer and comic artist who is best known for her film Persepolis, nominated for a 2007 Academy Award for Best Animated Film. Satrapi does an autobiographical talk… Continue reading

  • Remembering Kurt Vonnegut

    It’s been almost a year since Kurt Vonnegut died, but I’ve been thinking about him a lot. I recently read the final book he published during his lifetime, A Man Without a Country. It’s a concise collection of biographical essays that feel like they were written by your cantankerous, but highly intelligent and funny, old uncle.… Continue reading

  • Turn It Up!: Cambodian Cassette Archives

    Unless you were living in Phnom Penh in the 1960s, you’ve probably never heard anything quite like Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk & Pop Music, Vol. 1  (Various Artists, 2004) before. Painstakingly compiled from over 150 cassettes found in the Asian branch of the Oakland Public Library (by folks at Seattle’s own Sublime Frequencies label), this album… Continue reading

  • The Arrival: power without words

    The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, is the wordless story of a man who leaves his home and emigrates to a new country. So simple, so universal, but the reader wonders: is it history? Science fiction? Fantasy? Fable? What are these strange machines and bizarre creatures? How will the man survive in this weird new world,… Continue reading

  • Tesla in the air!

    Every so often, someone will approach me at the library and ask for information about Nikola Tesla, often in the kind of knowing way that people ask about Bigfoot or aliens, rather than a scientist and inventor. Occasionally they’ll bend close and add in hushed tones that they want the straight dope about his death… Continue reading

  • Magical Realism, beyond Latin America.

    Authors such as Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez are well known for their wonderful stories rich in metaphor and infused with a sense of magic. The titles below are similar in style, but are written by authors from cultures other than those of Central and South America. The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan. Louis… Continue reading

  • The Wine Is Fine

    Wine is happening in Washington in a big way! And this coming weekend is a primo opportunity to check out brand new wineries and varietals or old favorites. The Washington Wine Commission is sponsoring Taste Washington, including a Grand Wine Tasting at Qwest Field Event Center on Sunday, April 6 from 4-8 p.m. Who knew there… Continue reading

  • Frances Moore Lappé and Local Food Policy

    My local eating adventures have led me to think about issues such as who has access to local food, how housing developments are eclipsing nearby farmland and if another flood like the one in Lewis County is apt to destroy more farms and dairy herds anytime soon.  I’m certainly not the only one. For decades Francis Moore Lappé… Continue reading

  • Poetry Rules!

    April is National Poetry Month, and it’s rhyme time in Seattle. The sponsoring Academy of American Poets suggests 30 Ways to Celebrate the month. And whether you’re in to writing or reading or listening to poetry, there’s lots going on locally to help you do just that. The Seattle Public Library sponsors many poetry events… Continue reading

  • Free Books @ the library!

    In what some have called a daring and radical departure from the successful business models of Barnes & Noble, Netflix and iTunes, The Seattle Public Library is loaning books, DVDs and music free of charge to anyone with a library card. In a scheme well-calculated to take advantage of the current thrift craze (or cheap… Continue reading

  • 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity

    30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space  inspires readers to think about art in a different way.  Accessible and not stuffy, this work looks chronologically across the centuries of art in a way that avoids the thematic conventions and classifications of the way we typically study art history. This… Continue reading