And this afternoon at Elliott Bay Book Company, Darin Strauss will read. Half a Life is Strauss's memoir about accidentally killing a girl. Books intern Anna Minard wrote about the memoir in this week's book section:
Half a Life is Strauss's account of the incident and its repercussions. Even though memoir is by definition self-involved, Strauss wants us to hear, loudly, that he knows this is not about him. He worries that he is milking someone else's tragedy—a legitimate concern. The horrible thing that happened here happened to this dead girl and her family. But his story definitively proves otherwise; something tragic happened to Strauss as well, and he writes about it with great skill. His prose is precise, straightforward, and on occasion startlingly beautiful. Here's the crash itself, distilled: "Pretty girl on bike, a shy little thud, hysterical windshield."
I recommend you read the whole very fine review and seriously consider going to this reading.
The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.
