Book Notes: Nobel Prize winner Llosa has ties to WSU
Peru – hardly Pullman – is the homeland of the winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa.
But here’s something most people don’t know: He was a visiting professor at Washington State University from 1968 to 1969.
Vargas Llosa was near the beginning of his career, but already well-known in world literary circles. Yet he wasn’t invited to WSU by the literature professors; he was invited by the foreign language professors, one of whom had translated his works.
He taught seminars and other classes.
‘Night Lights’
“Night Lights: Stories and Essays from Northwest Authors” (Humanities Washington) has just been released, and it is chock-full of pieces by Washington authors.
The book evolved out of Humanities Washington’s annual “Bedtime Stories” events over the last 10 years, in which Washington authors read stories on nocturnal themes.
Of particular note in our region: It includes “A Brief Political Manifesto,” a poem by Spokane’s Jess Walter about thongs and politics. If it sounds familiar, that’s because Walter also included it in his most recent novel, “The Financial Lives of the Poets.”
The anthology also includes such well-known Washington authors as Tom Robbins, Tess Gallagher, Charles Johnson and August Wilson. It’s available through www.humanities.org.
NY Times editor
Robert H. Phelps, a former New York Times editor, will sign copies of his recent book, “God and the Editor: My Search for Meaning at the New York Times,” at the Zag Shop @ Kennedy Apartments, 101 E. Boone Ave., from 3 to 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
The book is about journalism ethics and the role of religion in Phelps’ work. He’s visiting Gonzaga University to speak to journalism classes.
‘Four-Eleven’
Sandpoint author Rich Faletto has written a memoir titled “Four-Eleven: Pulaskis, Planes and Forest Fires” (Blue Creek Press, $19.95), about his years on wildfire crews and trail crews in the Chelan Ranger District in the Cascades.
The book recounts what life is like for the firefighters on the ground. And not just on the ground; Faletto, a pilot and Air Force vet, also flew fire patrol missions. His book is full of good stories about life in tough conditions.
Faletto will sign his book on Saturday from 1:15 to 3 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave.
Fritz at REI
Jane Fritz, author of “Legendary Lake Pend Oreille: Idaho’s Wilderness of Water” (Keokee Books), will do a reading at a particularly apt place: the REI Store, 1125 N. Monroe St.
Apt, because the book serves as a recreational guide to the lake as well as a source of the lake’s history, culture and lore.
Fritz’s reading will be on Thursday, 7 p.m.
Muir and Leopold
Gonzaga University will continue its “What Can We Learn …” public lecture series with an event on Thursday, 7 p.m., which features two key literary and environmental figures.
“What Can We Learn from John Muir and Aldo Leopold?” will be the title of this event, which will feature Jonathan Isacoff of Gonzaga’s Political Science and Environmental Studies departments and Brian Steverson, GU’s John L. Aram Chair of Business Ethics.
The event takes place on Thursday, 7 p.m. in Gonzaga’s Wolff Auditorium, Jepson 114. It’s open to the public and free.
The great ‘Escape’
I wanted to put in one more plug for an upcoming author event: John Lukacs’ “Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War” (Simon & Schuster, $27.99).
It’s the suspenseful story of 12 men who suffered through the Bataan Death March and then escaped from a brutal Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in the Philippines.
One of those escapees was Samuel Grashio of Spokane, who went on to become an administrator at Gonzaga University.
I’m in the middle of this book now, and the story is as compelling and harrowing as Hollywood’s “The Great Escape” – and all true.
Lukacs, a Pennsylvania author, will deliver a lecture on Saturday, 2 p.m., in Gonzaga’s College Hall, Room 101. This event is part of GU’s All-Military Service Reunion weekend, and is free and open to the public.
The cult of Bujold
Fans of popular sci-fi author Lois McMaster Bujold will converge on Auntie’s Bookstore on Thursday, 7 p.m.
Bujold, a Hugo and Nebula award-winning author, will read from her latest novel, “Cryoburn.”