Inlander Picks

Three in One Books


Three Junes, the debut novel by author Julia Glass, covers just that -- three different Junes, spanning a decade, in the lives of a father and son from Scotland. Glass has created richly drawn characters, each one full of the quirks and qualities that make up every person. There's Paul, the patriarch, a respected newspaperman, reeling from his wife's recent death as he's carried along through the Greek islands with a tour group of other pensioners. The budding American artist, Fern, meets Paul in Greece, during her "grant year" in Europe; after 10 years of life's bruises, she befriends Paul's expatriate son, Fenno, amid an odd gathering of acquaintances at a borrowed vacation home. Fenno, a thoughtful and contemplative gay man living in New York at the height of the AIDS crisis, links the book's three stories.


Each section could stand on its own as a novella -- and the first one did, winning Glass the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society medal. Taken together, these distinct stories form a triptych of love, loss and enduring hope in the face of tragedy.


Three Junes unfolds like a good relationship, growing and shifting in unexpected details while remaining consistently satisfying.


-- Ann M. Colford





Julia Glass reads from her novel, Three Junes * Tuesday, August 20, 7:30 pm * Auntie's Bookstore * 402 W. Main * Call: 838-0206





A Fierce Nor'wester MUSIC


When Sherman Alexie and Jim Boyd held the first Gathering of the Four Winds in 1995, Alexie -- riding the swell of enormous literary success -- became a sort of headliner for the event. But a big part of Gathering's enduring success would have to be the steady annual presence of musician Jim Boyd, whose original compositions were included in Alexie's films Smoke Signals and The Business of Fancydancing.


This year, sans Sherman, Jim Boyd and fellow musician Alfonso Kolb are headlining the Gathering of the Four Winds not only as a celebration of local Native American culture, but also to honor the fact that Boyd has been nominated for three Nammy (Native American Music) Awards. Oh, and it's also to launch the new Jim Boyd with Alfonso Kolb: Live at the Met CD. As always, the event also offers drumming, dancing and more.


--Sheri Boggs





Gathering of the Four Winds with Jim Boyd and Alfonso Kolb * Thursday, Aug. 22, at 7:30 pm * Tickets: $8 * The Met * 901 W. Sprague * Call: 722-3165 * www.thunderwolfrecords.com





A Midsummer Night Scream THEATER


The Boys from Syracuse; Kiss Me, Kate; Play On!; Falstaff; Two Gents from Verona -- Shakespeare's comedies have proven to be fertile ground for musical comedy and opera. Why not another? Nearly 30 singers and actors, all teenagers, have been attending the Civic's Performing Arts Day Camp, and now they present the Spokane Civic Theatre's musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.


At the very least, this musical Dream has a clever premise: Everything has been updated to a hotel in 1930s Manhattan. Lysander and Demetrius become bellhops; Hermia is the hotel manager's daughter. Oberon may have been the Fairy King in the original, but now he's a big-band leader; Titania becomes the torch-song singer for his group, performing nightly in the Enchanted Bower. Nick Bottom and his fellow craftsmen are transformed into a group that caters weddings, ineptly. Puck even gets two companions, known as the Puckettes.


Finally, a trio of the teen campers will have their acting chops tested when they appear as "Three Fabulous Greek Statues." Jean Hardie directs; she has also (with assistant director Greg Pschirrer) choreographed the show. Jeff Batdorf is the musical director.





A Midsummer Night's Dream -- The Musical! * Thursday, Aug. 15, at 7 pm; Friday, Aug. 16, at 7 pm; Saturday, Aug. 17, at 2 pm and 7 pm * Tickets: $5 * Spokane Civic Theatre Main Stage, 1020 N. Howard St. * www.spokanecivictheatre.com * Call: 325-2507





Refractions and Reflections ARTS


Usually there are just a few highly specific kinds of glass to be found at Arbor Crest Winery. There's the slightly blue tinge one finds in an empty bottle of sauvignon blanc, the deep mossy green of a merlot, and even the pleasing thinness and pure clarity of a high-quality wine glass. This weekend, that all changes when, with a showing of work by 30 glass artists, Glass on the Grass takes place at Arbor Crest.


Working in an astonishing array of techniques and forms, the assembled artists exhibit blown glass, fused glass, painted glass, leaded and foiled glass, stained glass, cast glass, mosaic, torch-worked and lamp-worked beads and more. This year's event includes tastings of Arbor Crest wine and also delicious little nibbles from Luna. Live music aficionados will appreciate the tuneful stylings of Two Fat Blues from 1-5 pm on Saturday and 5-8 pm on Sunday, Lindel Reason from 1-4 pm on Sunday, and Cory & amp; Pete from 11 am-1 pm on Sunday.


--Sheri Boggs





Glass on the Grass * Saturday, Aug. 17, and Sunday, Aug. 18, from 11 am-7 pm * Arbor Crest Cliff House * 4703 N. Fruithill Rd. * Free * Call: 389-2930