Books Before he made it to Portland, novelist Patrick deWitt tried to leave Los Angeles six times. Six times he swore he was bailing for good. Six times he was sucked back into the city’s black hole.    More

Books Portland is a city of writers and readers. It’s sometimes overwhelming how much talent we’ve got crammed into this town. To wrap up 2011, I thought I’d offer a list of 10 very notable titles   More

Arts & Books Portland-based novelist Patrick deWitt's magical run to the top of the British literary establishment—he was like Harry Potter, if Harry had been a writer, a Canadian, and not disgusted by this analogy—ended this afternoon when he lost the Man Booker Prize to the heavily favored actual British person Julian Barnes.The 36-year-old deWitt, who arrived in Portland from Los Angeles in 2008, shouldn't ...   More

Murmurs Two prominent lawmakers are close to major career moves: Two-term state Rep. Jefferson Smith (D-East Portland) spent the weekend at the coast with his wife to arrive at a decision whether to enter t   More

Arts & Books Britain's prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction announced its shortlist of six novels today—and Portland's Patrick deWitt made the cut with his second book, The Sisters Brothers.This means deWitt, whose British Columbian birth makes him eligible for the literary honor as a citizen of the Commonwealth, will travel to London in October to hear whether he or one of five other finalists—including ...   More

News Each week, WW writer John Minervini brings you the latest in book reviews, author Q&A's and Portland literary gossip. Click here to join the Tome Raider mailing list. - 'Do you deal in haunted mattresses?' - 'How haunted?' he asked. - Riley Michael Parker That quotation just about set the tone for last Thursday's (Oct. 30) zinester reading at swanky Southeast Tapas Bar the Maiden. ...   More

News WW has learned that Portland writer Patrick DeWitt—whose first novel, Ablutions, was published by Houghton Mifflin last year to glowing reviews—has written a script for a movie slated to include John C. Reilly. DeWitt's dark teenage screenplay, Terri, is in pre-production to shoot this summer in Los Angeles, with Momma's Man filmmaker Azazel Jacobs directing. Reilly, the Paul Thomas ...   More