Want more? Here’s everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food, and This That. Chuck TingleJuly 7A visionary writer of such titles as I’m Gay for My Living Billionaire Jet Plane, Slammed in the Butthole by My Concept of Linear Time, and, my personal favorite, Pounded in the Butt by My Handsome Sentient Library Card Who Seems Otherworldly but in Reality Is Just a Natural Part of the Priceless Resources Our Library System Provides (yes, these are real book titles), Chuck Tingle is kind of like the Nicholas Sparks of the modern era, except way less weird (have you seen Sparks’s recipe for chicken salad that includes eight packets of Splenda!?). But like Sparks, Tingle churns out entertaining, saucy novels at an inspiring rate—the man has published hundreds of books (so many that I can’t find an official count on the internet). How does he do it? I have no idea. But you can ask the masked cowboy of niche gay erotica this month at Third Place Books, as he stops by to promote his newest novel, Fabulous Bodies. (Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, 7 pm) AUDREY VANN Perrin Roosevelt IrelandJuly 9“Birds do it / bees do it”—so sang Capitol Hill’s blingiest drag queen, Mark “Mom” Finley, years ago, in the words of Cole Porter. “Do it” turned out to be falling in love (oh Cole, you kid)—but here comes Perrin Roosevelt Ireland with Poking the Squid, a guide (illustrated, even) to what the song actually meant. That’s right: Squids screw, spiders schtup, hyenas get horny, dolphins discharge, and spiny anteaters sport four-headed penises (which they fire two at a time). And if that doesn’t flip your wig, critters of the world marry, divorce, manifest queerness, and change sex. Expect a hail of ribald hilarity across the board—but the funny also features some serious considerations on how animals show us what we know, and only think we know, about our own intimate relations. (That said, I’m lining up mainly to hear about them there dolphin vaginal popsicles.) (Town Hall, 7:30 pm) ANDREW HAMLIN Hot Off the Press Book FairJuly 11Comic nerds, art book fiends, and zinesters, listen up! The 13th annual Hot Off the Press Book Fair showcases self-published and small-press comics, prints, and original artwork by over 50 regional indie artists and publishers, including Fantagraphics legends like Love and Rockets author Jaime Hernandez, Jim Woodring (creator of the generic anthropomorph Frank), Megan Kelso, Katie Skelly, and Jim Blanchard. There will also be live music from local garage-rock trio the Fall-Outs, experimental-rock project Martin Bland’s Randomized Controlled Trials, and the self-proclaimed “purveyor of questionable taste,” DJ Thirst ‘N’ Howl. (Fantagraphics, 5–9 pm) AUDREY VANN Ocean Vuong with Putsata ReangJuly 23“The hardest thing in the world is to live only once…” reads the tagline for Ocean Vuong’s second novel, The Emperor of Gladness. On an amazing run for someone who’s only 37 years old, Vuong was born in Ho Chi Minh City, and the family fled Vietnam after a policeman detected his mother’s mixed-race heritage. After some time in the Philippines, the family made their way to Hartford, Connecticut. Vuong didn’t read until age 11, but then won admission to the prestigious Glastonbury High School. Degrees in creative writing and poetry followed, from New York institutions. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, his first novel, depicted a transcontinental raging mess that bore some resemblance to his own background—a family fighting for identity along with survival, and the narrator’s queerness blooming through the turbulence. Show up and learn what twists he puts on his further life in the service industry, elder care, and nursing the muse. (Town Hall, 7:30 pm) ANDREW HAMLIN More Fatimah Asghar July 8, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Ann Patchett July 9, Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm Silent Reading Party July 12, Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater, 5 pm, free Lauren Napier July 13, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Kim Narby July 14, Third Place Books Ravenna, 7 pm Kyle T. Mays with Jessica Hernandez July 15, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Raúl Sánchez, Benjamin Schmitt, T. Clear, Molly Olguín July 15, Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, 7 pm Safe Harbor: Open Mic Sessions July 16, Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 7 pm Jennifer Lynn Barnes with Clare Edge July 20, Lake Forest Park, 7 pm Keana Aguila Labra, Kerry J Heckman, Marty Salgado, Kalehua Kim, Eric Lochridge, Lorenz Mazon Dumuk July 21, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Brooke Nevils July 22, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Clint Smith July 22, MOHAI, 7 pm Claire Vaye Watkins with Claire Dederer July 23, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Rebecca Roanhorse with Tara Campbell July 23, Seattle Public Library Central Branch, 7 pm Jack Straw Reading: Gabriella Garcia, Maiah A Merino, BeeLyn Naihiwet, Diane Nguyen, Alejandro Pérez-Cortés, and Sayantani Roy July 24, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Maria DiLorenzo with Christopher Robinson July 27, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Ronen Givony with Tricia Romano July 28, Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm Find all these listings and more on our sister site, EverOut Seattle! EverOut.com/Seattle The post Things to Do in July: Literature appeared first on The Stranger. ...read more read less