Sedaris reading tops week’s big attractions
The big name in author appearances this week is, no doubt, David Sedaris, who rolls into the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox on Saturday at 8 p.m.
What other author could entice hundreds of people to pay $30 to $50 just to be, essentially, read to?
All I can say is, I’ve already purchased four tickets. The Fox is an unusually large venue for an author reading (over 1,600 seats) so plenty of tickets are still left through TicketsWest outlets (800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).
Yet if you want to see top authors, there are plenty of other excellent options this week – including one on the same day. Read on.
Jamie Ford’s ‘Hotel’
Jamie Ford, the author of the fine Seattle-set novel “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” will read on Saturday, 2 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave.
The novel, about a bittersweet romance between a young Chinese-American boy and a Japanese-American girl, has spent plenty of time on the New York Times best-seller lists and has been a popular book-club choice.
I found that it created an evocative picture of Seattle’s International District during the months just before and after Pearl Harbor. You’ll learn plenty of Northwest immigrant history along the way.
And, or course, the reading is a bargain, especially by Sedaris standards. It’s free, like most Auntie’s readings.
‘Dragons’ in Spokane
Top young-adult fantasy author Bryan Davis will read from “Starlighter,” the first installment of his “Dragons of Starlight” series, on Monday at 4 p.m. at the Christian Supply Bookstore, 9310 N. Division St.
Davis, from Tennessee, is well-known in the Christian young-adult genre for his two previous series, “Dragons in Our Midst” and “Oracles of Fire.”
The evening will also include a drawing “to win a real sword and a handmade elvish-style cloak.” That’s something you can’t get at most book readings.
The event is free and open to the public.
An homage to teachers
Holly and Bruce Holbert of Spokane have pulled off a brilliant publishing coup.
Their just-released book, “Signed, Your Student: Celebrities Praise the Teachers Who Made Them Who They Are Today” (Kaplan Publishing), includes essays and reminiscences by some amazing names, including:
• Bill Moyers
• Ken Burns
• Gillian Anderson
• Jim Belushi
• Rosanne Cash
• John Glenn
• Robert Reich
• Dionne Warwick
Even more amazing is how the book came about. It began as an idea for a gift that Holly Holbert wanted to give to her husband for his 25th year as a high school English teacher; he teaches at Mt. Spokane High School. She wanted to put together a book honoring teachers.
She told him she wanted it to be about the teachers “like you, that no one hears about,” the ones that make a positive difference in student’s lives. So she sent out a letter asking celebrities for their stories.
The Holberts didn’t have high hopes. The letter didn’t offer writers the usual enticements, such as rights or cover billing.
But the replies came pouring in. The couple received more than 100 stories, of which 70 are used in the book. Then Kaplan Publishing, a big educational and academic publisher, signed on to the project.
The book hits the nation’s bookshelves on Tuesday. Bruce Holbert, in his introduction, said that, even if the book never had made it past the idea stage, it would still have been the best gift he’d ever received.
And now it will undoubtedly be purchased as a gift for thousands of teachers across the country.