The Rake Magazine

Category: So Little Time

  • Joe Sacco

    The comic book has come a long way since Superman,with graphic novels now (rightfully) garnering literary cred andoccupying their own constantly expanding section at the local Barnes& Noble. But with his unique brand of “cartoon journalism,” Joe Sacco has put his influential stamp on the medium. When Sacco applies his “comic book” treatment to subjects like the occupation of Palestine,war in Bosnia, and the Gulf War, the results are superior works of bothart and reporting. Sacco conducts hundreds of interviews for his books,and tells these personal narratives with feverish mishmashes of framesthat are more evocative and harrowing than most front-page news photos.This month, as part of Walker’s Brave New Worlds political art series and the Rain Taxi reading series, he discusses his approach and inimitable artistic style.

    7 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; $10 (members $8).

  • Melissa Fay Greene

    Melissa Fay Greene made her big splash with National Book Award finalist (and perennial book club favorite) Praying for Sheetrock, a social history of a tiny Georgia county struggling to come to grips with the challenges and ramifications of the Civil Rights movement.In all of her work, Greene combines meticulous historical research withthe dogged chops of a first-rate journalist and the narrative skills ofa novelist. Her most recent book, There Is No Me Without You,is the tale of Haregewoin Teferra, a foster mother in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia, and the AIDS orphans she has raised. At the Weisman, she willbe joined in conversation with Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of PublicAffairs professor Larry Jacobs.

    7:30 p.m., Weisman Art Museum, 333 East River Rd., Minneapolis; 612-625-3363.

  • Paul Krugman

    New York Times columnist and Princeton economist Paul Krugman could have chosen a better title for his new book than The Conscience of a Liberal, which he cribbed from the late Senator Paul Wellstone. (Wellstone himself was riffing off Barry Goldwater’s 1964 book, The Conscience of a Conservative.)Krugman’s book is less a manifesto of liberal ethics than it is adiscourse on practical economics. He takes for granted Wellstone’smoral arguments for socioeconomic equality and concentrates on anempirical defense of liberal policy. Like Wellstone’s book, Krugman’sis unlikely to change conservative minds. But Krugman’s shrewd andaccessible arguments give liberal readers a tool set for arguing pointsthemselves. If you agreed with Wellstone but didn’t quite know why,read Krugman and you will.

    7 p.m., Temple Israel, 2324 Emerson Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611; free.

     

  • Paul Muldoon

    Paul Muldoon is a curious character, even by artistic standards, andhe’s been on a serious roll of late. To his growing list ofaccomplishments—including ten collections of smart, allusive, and oftenvery funny poetry, as well as a Pulitzer Prize—he recently landed theprestigious (and influential) gig as poetry editor at The New Yorker.That’s all impressive scuttlebutt in the poetry world, but theIrish-born Muldoon also fronts the rock band Rackett, and collaboratedon a song (subsequently recorded by Bruce Springsteen) with the lateWarren Zevon. Muldoon has also penned librettos for three operas,authored four children’s books, and published numerous poetrytranslations. One way or another, it seems highly likely that poetry’s21st century Renaissance man will rock the house.

    7:30 p.m., University of Minnesota, Coffman Union, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-625-3363; free.