We have a poetry slam and three readings tonight.

At Elliott Bay Book Company, Irvine Welsh reads from his new book. Irvine Welsh, of course, wrote Trainspotting. And he wrote a book called Ecstasy that I really enjoyed. And then he kept writing books. And writing books. These books generally covered the exact same ground of his earlier books.And then he wrote a sequel to Trainspotting. And he kept tilling the same soil. And then he put out a book called If You Like School, You’ll Love Work. And now he’s put out a book called Crime. Irvine Welsh is not that interesting anymore, frankly, but he should get points for still putting out book after book and going on tour to promote them. He’s been to Seattle like four times in the last six years. That’s gumption.

From bad to worse: Mark Richardson reads before Irvine Welsh at Elliott Bay. Richardson wrote a book called Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Man, do I loathe Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The book always struck me as a Lee Hazelwood song without any of the knowing, self-mocking humor that makes Lee Hazelwood songs so appealing. And this book, with its cutesy title and its premise—let’s create the same journey of self-discovery that was documented in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance…only with me as the star this time!—makes for a tremendously unappealing book idea.

But don’t worry: there’s a good reading tonight. Tariq Ali is at Town Hall. Ali is a profoundly intelligent writer on areas of the world that most Americans couldn’t even locate on a map. His newest book, The Duel, is about Pakistan. I’m not as fond of Ali’s novels—something about them seems a little wooden to me—but his nonfiction, like The Duel, is really something. You should really go to this.

Full readings calendar, including the next week or so, here.