for Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween, Samhain, All Saint’s Eve…

^[1]* 7:00 PM: The U-District UW Bookstore is hosting a literary Halloween party for those who long to dress up as their favorite fictional character or author. Could be a fabulous time; could be a sucking black hole of pseudo-intellectual narcissism. [LINK ^[2]]

* 7:30 PM: Juan Cole, author of Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East will be reading and discussing his book in Room 120, Kane Hall, University of Washington. Cole, a historian of the Middle East at the U of Michigan, uses primarily French first hand accounts for this book, and concentrates on the first seven months of the French occupation. If you are interested in Napoleon, Egypt, or the history of military logistics (ME! Mememememememe!!!), I suggest and recommend Paul Strathern’s Napoleon In Egypt and/or Mirage: Napoleon’s Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt by Nina Burleigh, instead. Both are less didactic and more encompassing than Cole. [LINK ^[2]]