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Friday, February 26, 2010

Conflict of Interest / Books / Economy Power, Greed, Wall Street, Marijuana, Sex with Minors, Suicide, Maria Cantwell, the Federal Reserve, Real Estate, and More

Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 1:28 PM

President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner in the White House in the spring of 2009, a period of time when Geithers basically conservative mind-set... prevented him from grasping the opportunity for progressive change that history had presented, Haslett argued in The Stranger last week.

White House Flickr Photostream
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner in the White House in the spring of 2009, a period of time when Geither's "basically conservative mind-set... prevented him from grasping the opportunity for progressive change that history had presented," Haslett argued in The Stranger last week.

This was published yesterday but I'm moving it up because the event's tonight. 900 Madison Street, 622-6400, 7 pm, free.

Those are just some of the things I'm going to be asking Adam Haslett about tonight at the Sorrento,* in an event produced by Elliott Bay Book Company. He's in town with his new book, Union Atlantic, a novel about the financial industry (and power and greed and marijuana and sex with minors and suicide and real estate). We'll also talk about the piece Haslett wrote for The Stranger last week about Obama's treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner. "He's been a lousy Treasury secretary," Haslett concluded. Washington senator Maria Cantwell is one of the most outspoken Democratic critics of Geithner, so we'll also talk about Cantwell and the Obama administration and what can be done now to make the economy less fucked.

It's a lot of ground to cover. What questions do you want me to ask? Put your ideas in the comments.

* Yes, another event at the Sorrento. Tonight's event won't be in the Fireside Room like Wednesday night's event, though; it'll be on the top floor, in a room with three big windows looking out on the skyline. There will be drinks. And a snack menu. And Elliott Bay Book Company will be selling books.

Comments (5) RSS

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I like that you're asking him about the Third War that we can't afford, the Drug War on MJ. It's one of three initiatives the KC Dems were talking about, which will result in record turnout in Nov 2010.

Now what was that website ...

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 25, 2010 at 2:37 PM

So, the big question, obviously is this: when will we end the three Wars we can't afford? Iraq (no al-Qaeda), Afghanistan (no al-Qaeda), and Drugs (waste of tax dollars) ...

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 25, 2010 at 3:32 PM

Sorrento was fun!

Posted by Kendra on February 25, 2010 at 6:19 PM

Would you consider asking Mr. Haslett to conjecture on why Mr. Geithner would say that customers of banks like Citibank, Chase and Bank of America have a right to demand high levels of service and integrity, yet that it wouldn't be a good idea for those customers to abandon banks for lower lending rates, fewer fees and higher savings rates credit unions and community banks offer?

Posted by Keister Button on February 26, 2010 at 2:31 PM

I enjoyed Union Atlantic, but wished Doug Fanning's character was better explained. Why make Fanning such a cypher until the very end of the book, and then only partially reveal his motives? E.g., why did Haslett decide to obscure Fanning's feelings/motive for the relationship with Nate until the very end of the book? We got to see Fanning's viewpoints on how he ran his business but not his personal life. Was Haslett making clear that Fanning didn't question his motives? Hard to imagine a straight guy decides to have a gay relationship without at least wondering a little bit what's going on.

Posted by Scatterbrained on February 26, 2010 at 3:10 PM