AltWeeklies Wire
Priest-Turned-Author Helps African Refugeesnew
Gary Smith is a 70-year-old Catholic priest who says things like "Darfur is a frickin' mess" and "humans are fucked up."
Willamette Week |
Amanda Waldroupe |
02-13-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Gary Smith, They Come Back Singing
Michael Pollan's Manifestonew
Post-Omnivore's Dilemma, the doomsday prophet of the U.S. diet lets us know what we can eat.
Willamette Week |
Ben Waterhouse |
02-06-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Jim Wallis' 'Great Awakening' is a Snoozenew
A progressive evangelical's new book will put his fans to sleep.
Willamette Week |
Matt Buckingham |
01-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
Are You One of 'Them'?new
The title of Nathan McCall's debut novel refers both to the black residents of one Atlanta inner-city ward and the young white "urban homesteaders" who are moving in, snapping up properties, and literally changing the neighborhood's complexion.
Willamette Week |
Kevin Allman |
01-16-2008 |
Fiction
A New Collection From Colm 'Shortlisted for Booker' Tóibínnew
Tóibín is best known for his novels, but while those were propelled by intensities of exploration rooted in their subjects, the author here often seems to be chasing what Yeats once said he looked for at the end of every poem: the click of a well-made box.
Willamette Week |
Matthew Korfhage |
01-09-2008 |
Nonfiction
Per Petterson Finds Shelter in Norway's Wintersnew
Despite the cold (and dark), there is warmth and security in a crackling fire, and Norwegian novelist Petterson has written a wonderful novel, Out Stealing Horses about a man who, indeed, is comfortable with his surroundings in a twilight land.
Willamette Week |
Tom Alkire |
11-28-2007 |
Fiction
Silja Talvi on What Prison is Really Like for Womennew
Women Behind Bars details some of the reasons behind the increase in women prisoners nationwide, and the problems it poses.
Willamette Week |
Matthew Korfhage |
11-07-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
A Hefty Book Captures the Early 19th Centurynew
Daniel Walker Howe illuminates the portentous half-century before the Civil War, a time that seems at once alien to our modern sensibilities and yet strangely echoes our own technological, consumer-driven age.
Willamette Week |
Matt Buckingham |
11-07-2007 |
Nonfiction
Poe Ballantine Searches for Inspirationnew
"I don't recommend the writing life," declares Poe Ballantine. "At least, not the one where you move around a lot, live alone and work odd jobs."
Willamette Week |
Alastair Rockoff |
11-07-2007 |
Nonfiction
Wordstock Returnsnew
Four authors -- Peter Sagal, Janet Fitch, Shane Koyczan, Adrian Tomine -- on the eve of Portland's biggest literary weekend.
Willamette Week |
Staff |
11-07-2007 |
Books
Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culturenew

After someone attempted a firebombing at a new Starbucks in Southeast Portland, Taylor Clark, then a staff writer for Willamette Week, wrote a cover story about the Seattle-based coffee giant. The article generated grande buzz and lead to this book.
Willamette Week |
Taylor Clark |
11-07-2007 |
Excerpts
Author Michael Pritchett Gets Lost Between Lewis Past and Presentnew
Pritchett's first novel requires readers to follow a similarly delicate navigation with two pieces of fiction in the same book.
Willamette Week |
Henry Stern |
10-24-2007 |
Fiction
Michael Shellenberger on Environmentalism's Futurenew
A rogue environmentalist takes aim at the movement he says has failed.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
10-24-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Dr. Oliver Sacks on 'Musicophilia'new
Sacks' latest book tackles our intimate mental connection to all things musical. It dallies in the minds of inspired amnesiacs and melodious Alzheimer's patients in an effort to explain just what it is about music that can move us so profoundly.
Willamette Week |
Claire Evans |
10-17-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Classical Music Critic Alex Ross Rewrites Historynew
The New Yorker critic's new book, The Rest Is Noise, demonstrates his storyteller's gift for the engaging anecdote, humor and evocative description, to the 20th century's kaleidoscopic, tumultuous, non-pop musical history.
Willamette Week |
Brett Campbell |
10-17-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews