Seattle, with its spectacular natural beauty and rough frontier history, has inspired writers from its earliest days. This anthology spans seven decades and includes fiction, memoirs, histories, and journalism that define the city or use it as a setting, imparting the flavor of the city through a literary prism.Reading Seattle features classics by Horace R. Cayton, Richard Hugo, Betty MacDonald, Mary McCarthy, Murray Morgan, and John Okada as well as more recent works by Sherman Alexie, Lynda Barry, David Guterson, J. A. Jance, Jonathan Raban, and others. It includes cutting-edge work by emerging talents and reintroduces works by important Seattle writers who may have been overlooked in recent years.The writers featured in this volume explore a variety of neighborhoods and districts within the city, delineating urban spaces and painting memorable portraits of characters both historical and fictional.

Foreword--Charles JohnsonAcknowledgmentsIntroduction--Peter DonahuePart 1: Coming into Focus (1930s-1980s)Northwest Gateway: The Story of the Port of Seattle--Archie BinnsThe Executioner Waits--Josephine HerbstFarthest Reach: Oregon and Washington--Nancy Wilson RossAnnie Jordan: A Novel of Seattle--Mary Brinker PostLong Old Road--Horace R. CaytonHow I Grew--Mary McCarthyAnybody Can Do Anything--Betty MacDonaldSkid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle--Murray MorganNisei Daughter--Monica SoneNo-No Boy--John OkadaSeattle, Past to Present--Roger SaleDigressions of a Native Son--Emmett WatsonThe Real West Marginal Way: A Poet's Autobiography--Richard HugoPart 2: Many Voices (1980s-1990s)Still Life with Woodpecker--Tom RobbinsThe Rainy City--Earl W. EmersonSister of the Road--Barbara WilsonSeattle's Son--David GutersonThe Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest--Timothy EganHunting Mister Heartbreak: A Discovery of America--Jonathan RabanBlack Planet: Facing Race during an NBA Season--David ShieldsEmerald City: Third & Pike--Charlotte Watson ShermanSeattle and Vicinity--Colette BrooksA Good Man--Rebecca Brown Lying in Wait--J. A. JanceRites of Passage: A Memoir of the Sixties in Seattle--Walt CrowleyStreet--Jack CadyCold Snap--Thom JonesAmerican Bullfrog--Charles D-AmbrosioIndian Killer--Sherman AlexieBlurred Vision: How the Eighties Began in One American Household--Natalia Rachel SingerDark Blue Suit--Peter BachoPart 3: Unto Itself (1990s-Early 2000s)A Fair Trade--Michael ByersSeattle Now: A Letter--Emily Baillargeon RussinAllan Stein--Matthew StadlerSleep Dummy--Matt BriggsBreaking In--Paisley RekdalCruddy--Lynda BarryGreen Lake--Edwin WeiheNever Mind Nirvana--Mark LindquistPearl's Secret: A Black Man's Search for His White Family--Neil HenryThe Strangeness of Beauty--Lydia MinatoyaEpilogue--John TromboldBibliography