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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2018)
FEBRUARY 22, 2018 // 23 #MeToo: What Now? ASTORIA — Clatsop Community College and Fort George Brewery are pleased to announce the March event for the 2017-18 first Thurs- day Ales & Ideas lectures. On March 1, the col- lege will kick off Women’s History Month with two talented speakers at the brewery’s Lovell Show- room. Mindy Stokes, wom- en’s studies instructor and director of the Lives in Transition program, pres- ents “#Me Too: What Now?” Stokes will provide a historical analysis of the Me Too campaign and why it’s a significant and sustainable aspect of the feminist movement. According to Wiki- pedia, the phrase “Me Too,” long used by social Marianne Monson Mindy Stokes activist Tarana Burke to help survivors realize they are not alone, was popular- ized by actress Alyssa Mi- lano when she encouraged women to Tweet it to “give people a sense of the mag- nitude of the problem.” Since then, #Me- Too has been post- ed online millions of times, and terms such as sexual harassment and sexual assault are common expressions used in the workplace. Stokes will provide a way forward in the “What Now?” por- tion of the evening, dis- cussing why the third and fourth waves of the femi- nist movement provide a theoretical framework for creating a society built on equity. The college is also pleased to introduce our newest instructor of writing, Marianne Mon- son, who will read an excerpt from her latest book, “Frontier Grit: The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women.” Doors open with food and beverage service at 6 p.m. Seasonal beers are on tap, food and other bev- erages are available for purchase, but no purchase is required. Minors are welcome. The Fort George Lovell Showroom is located at Duane and 14th streets in Astoria. Y PI Z Z A DA for 22 $ PECIAL! TU E S Dining Out 503.325.7414 bakedak.com #1 12th Street, Astoria, OR North Coast and Peninsula ILIES FAM OME! C WEL Hungry Harbor GrillE 3 13 Pa c ific Hw y, Do w n to w n Lo n g Be a c h, W A 3 60-642-5555 • w w w.hu n gryha rb o r.c o m –– OPEN DAIL Y! –– A STORIA C ORNER D ELI ◆ Local ◆ Fresh ◆ Gourmet 3 8TH & L, ON THE S EAV IEW BEAC H APPROAC H 3 60-642-7880 503.755.1818 www.camp18restaurant.com Favorite stop to & from the Coast W ALLA W ALLA’S BAS EL C ELLARS W INEM AK ER DINNER M ARC H 2ND See for full menu 304 37th Street | Astoria, OR 97103 503-325-7768 All orders take-out BOOKMONGER Vlautin’s powerful novel explores young man’s quest for identity Willy Vlautin’s brand- new novel, “Don’t Skip Out on Me,” raises a beer can to the common man. The author, who now calls Scappoose home, was born in Reno and raised in a single-parent household. He dips into this background to flesh out his lead character in a plainspoken but searing story about a young man in search of his destiny, and the guardians who would help him if they could. Horace Hopper was abandoned by his parents when he was a kid, and farmed out by his grand- mother to an elderly couple that runs a sheep ranching operation in Nevada’s mountains. Despite the constancy and kindness provided by Mr. and Mrs. Reese, Horace is still haunted by his par- ents’ desertion. Although the Reeses make it plain that they love him and value his contribution to their house- hold and ranching operation, Horace fantasizes that he can only prove his worth by becoming a Mexican boxing champion. The fact that he is half-Paiute/half-Irish and speaks no Spanish does not dim his ambition. He is motivated by a self- help book he’d taken from his grandma’s bookshelf years ago. It is a mum- bo-jumbo of mixed meta- phors and contradictory ad- vice. But that is the impetus that helps Horace determine that he must leave the ranch, move to Tucson, train with a coach and launch his boxing career. The Reeses are reluctant to see him go. Saddled with the aches and infirmities of age, they know that their future on the ranch is FILE PHOTO Author Willy Vlautin “Don’t Skip Out on Me” By Willy Vlautin Harper Perennial 288 pp $22.99 precarious if they don’t have someone younger to help them make a go of it. They love Horace like a son and had hoped he would want to take over the ranch someday. But they also understand that he needs to test himself, so they set aside their own hopes and send Horace off with their blessing. In Tucson, Horace im- plements his plan. He gets a job in a tire shop by day, he trains at a local boxing gym by night, and he changes his name to Hector Hidalgo. He is warned by one trainer that fighting — “get- ting hit as much as you’ll get hit” — will change the way he thinks, his moods and even his future. But Horace/Hector perseveres, lining up fights and traveling to venues throughout the Southwest and Mexico. Although he finds success in the ring, his victories always feel like a fluke for one reason or another. And, as the trainer had warned, every fight exacts severe physical punishment. In “Don’t Skip Out on Me,” the author considers fear and the different shapes that it takes in different lives. He writes about people who move through “a world that is built to break your heart” — even when there are friendships and acts of decency and kindness that salve some of the bruising moments. And Vlautin unerringly captures the heartbreak of the generational divide — as every older generation realizes it cannot protect its younger charges from mak- ing their own mistakes as they forge their own way. The Bookmonger is Bar- bara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column focusing on the books, au- thors and publishers of the Pacific Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink. com.
