The one-two punch of Hand and Sharpe reading from their respective works should make for a fine evening of literary muscle. Hand’s “Generation Loss, ” a clenched fist of a novel about a punk photographer engulfed in a Maine mystery, broods with atmospheric tenseness and flies right by. To give you an idea of Sharpe’s “Jamestown, ” it is a fantasy-like telling of the settlers at the Virginia colony, featuring a protagonist in Pocahantas who spouts Ebonics and Elizabethan English. (That’s when, of course, she’s not going all-out Valley Girl, reminiscent of those early nineties “Saturday Night Live” sketches.) Both books are batshit crazy in their own ways, and both authors, despite some pretty dark material, find ways to involve some enlightened humor. (Tom Lynch)
Elizabeth Hand and Matthew Sharpe discuss their books May 12 at Book Cellar, 4736 North Lincoln, (773)293-2665, at 7:30pm. Free.
