I suggest you go and hear Rick Moody read. I say this despite the fact that when I saw him read three years ago, it turned out to be one of those events where the sound of the author's voice fails utterly to match the voice I had already created for him in my head, and the dissonance left me distracted and disappointed. But Moody is an extremely personable guy, not at all reflective of the darkness behind some of his extraordinary writing. His newest short-story collection, Demonology , traverses this darkness with moments of brilliance, being ambitious without sacrificing its readability. One weekend only.
Unconvincing replicas are always happier than reasonable facsimiles.
Indeed, we should have welcomed his masturbatory excess as one more facet of a poorly held-together whole. I would hazard a guess that the more unconvincing the replica, the better your chances. See Movie Times for details. Whether you appreciated her former band or not, Carrie Akre is proving to be one of Seattle's most enduring and surprising local talents. Whether that's a result of maturity, newfound confidence, or boredom with straightforward rock is anyone's guess, but it's your loss if you write her off.