The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 67

i( yy "Ty ly ii 1111 jyiy Hi ri'-' lynr -fyiyry nyimyrmy ymn liy'Hyri iTy y-'ijy yy wy ng iy Hj 1995 Spokane, Wash. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Sunday, April 2, 1995 Page E5- Entertalnment With insight and humor, Clint McCown uses country club situations to explore human foibles and excesses Bock review as witness Bev, married to the man who steals golf carts; she runs the club snack bar and provides extraordinary services for Ed, a runty, cigar-chewing hustler. All of them have some gaping hole in the fabric of their practicality, and time seems to be running out for each. At the center of this roil of hidden agenda, Rod, the club pro who never made the grade on the professional tour, is driven to greater risks and leaps of faith, not only by his libido but also by the potential for his future. The country club life of Middle America offers excellent opportunities to parlay the foibles, weaknesses and excesses of its denizens into the stinging satire associated with Sinclair Lewis or the affectionate approach sometimes favored by John Steinbeck.

Although humor is a McCown indulgence, he is neither mean-spirited nor given to over-the-top farce. The result is believable characters caught in moments of plausible vulnerability. The Member-Guest is an inventive and compelling long-form debut. calls the narrative a novel; the acknowledgments page accounts for the publication of nine of the chapters (of which there are 10) as short stories, two of which were winners in a major competition. Novel or short stories? Whatever.

McCowns sense of place and character interweave to form an exquisitie narrative, most of which takes place off the golf links. Even those moments played out on the greens or bunkers have little to do with the game itself, but involve instead a disgruntled female member cementing in the cups on a number of holes on the morning of the tournament; an upwardly mobile bicycle repairman who steals golf carts; and the club pro, desperately trying to bury some incriminating evidence in a sand trap. With the exceptions of a young man who works in the clubs pro shop, and the clubs founding father who has memory problems, the major characters are middle-aged. Their dreams are as fragile as, say, those of Lyle, the real estate agent, whose plans for hosting a clambake in which he will attract potential clients is dealt a severe blow by the early arrival of refrigerated clams. Their opportunities grow more precarious, "Hie Member-Guest By Clint McCown (Doubleday, $20) By Shelly Lowenkopf Fort Worth Star-Telegram jJ he Member-Guest is the big event of 1 the year, a golf tournament held at a country club where handicaps and rankings would be better assigned on theoasis of social ambition and grasps on reality than on the ability to hit a ball with a wood or iron.

Although unnamed, its locale given only vague specificity, the country club in one way or another is known to all of us, whether we consider golf a noble or a silly pursuit. This club with its manicured greens, faulty plumbing and cranky air conditioning is the venue for Clint McCowns excellent collision of members, their guests and colleagues, as they prepare for and participate in events for which they have questionable abilities and unreasonable expectations. The dust jacket of The Member-Guest In his humor, Clint McCown Is neither mean-spirited nor given to over-the-top farce. Bast-selling books From the New York Times Fiction 1. "The Celestine Prophecy" James Redfield (Warner, $17 951 2.

Our Game" John le Carre (Knopf, $24) 3 "Border Music Robert James Waller (Warner, $17 95) 4, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories James Finn (Macmillan, $8 95) 5. The Glass Lake" Maeve Binchy (Delacorte, $23 95) 6 Original Sin D. James (Knopf, $24) 7. Daisy-Head Mayzle Dr Seuss (Random House, $15) 8 The Bridges of Madison County Robert James Waller (Warner, $14 95) 9. Silent Treatment Michael Palmer (Bantam, $21 95) 10.

Mutant Message Down Under" Mario Morgan (HarperCollins, $18) Non-fiction 1. "Breaking the Surface" Greg Lougams (Random House, $23) 2. The Hot Zone Richard Preston (Random House, $23) 3. The Death of Common House Philip Howard (Random House, $18) 4 Sisters Carol Saline (Running Press, $27 50) 5. Couplehood" Paul Reiser (Bantam, $19 95) 6.

Midnight in Garden of Good Evil John Berendt (Random House, $23) i 7. An Anthropologist on Mars i Oliver Sacks (Knopf, $24) 8. I Want to Tell You" 0 Simpson (UttleBrown, $17 95) 9 The Book of Virtues William Bennett (Simon, $27.50) 10. Discipline ot Market Leaders" Paperback fiction ,1. The Chamber John Grisham (IslandDell, $7 50) 2.

"Until You Judith McNaught (Pocket, $6 50) 3 "Tom Clancys Op-Center" Tom Clancy (Berkley, $6 99) 4. "Accident" Danielle Steel (Dell, $6 99) 5. "Decider Dick Francis (Jove, $5 99) 6. Inca Gold Clive Cussler (Pocket, $6 99) 7. Mistress Amanda Quick (Bantam, $5 99) 8.

"The Day After Tomorrow Allan Folsom (Warner, $6 99) ,0 Daybreak Bela Plain (Dell, $6 99) 10. Angel Barbara Bradford (Ballantine, $6 99) Paperback non-fiction 1 Embraced By the Light 11 Betty Eadie (Bantam, $5 99) 2. Care of the Soul Thomas Moore (Harper Perennial, $12) TThe Hidden Lite of Dogs Elizabeth Thomas (Pocket, $5 99) 4 Saved By the Light" Danmon Brinkley (Harper, $5 99) 5, How We Die Sherwm Nuland (Vintage, $13) 6. Soul Mates Thomas Moore (Harper, $13) the tide, for entries in bad prose contest Washington Commission for the Humanities and the Washington State Library. What they get: $1,000 to support a public humanities project through an organization of the winners choice.

For nomination forms: Contact Linda Capell at the Washington Commission for the Humanities at (206)753-4024. Also: The humanities commission and state library are also seeking nominees for the annual Nancy Blankenship Pryor Award, which goes for outstanding contribution to the literary heritage of ashington -state. Nomination deadlines for both awards: May 31. The reader board Ed Reynolds will read from David Lees The Porcine Canticles at 7 p.m. tonight at Anacondo Espresso and Poetiy, 510 S.

Freya. Admission is $5, $3 for students. Edward Hall, author of West of the Thirties! Discoveries Among the Navajo and Hopi, will read from his book at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Aunties Bookstore, Main and Washington. quickly, like sponsoring this years version of the Bronson Alcott Bad Prose Contest.

And which is why were extending the entrance deadline for one more week. We want to give every aspiring bad writer a chance to display his or her, uh, literary skills. So get those entries in the mail. Remember, the trick is, in the words of contest judge (and Whitworth College English professor) Laura Bloxham, to compose one sentence of bad original prose, preferably the opening sentence of the worst novel you never expect to write. Winners in each of two categories, student and community, will receive a $50 gift certificate to Aunties Bookstore.

The absolutely, positively final deadline is Friday. Send your entries to: Bronson Alcott Prose Contest, co Dan Webster, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Winners will be announced sometime in May. On the shelves Originally published in 1965, Half-Sun on the Columbia: a Hutterite colony that arrived in Spokane in 1960.

With a history that dates back to the 16th century and Europes Protestant Reformation, the group is noted by its agrarian-based economy and isolation from the culture at large. Based primarily on interviews, Youmans book is a first-hand look at an enduring American subculture. Books for sale Its spring cleaning time in Pullman at the offices of the Washington State University Press, which means hundreds of the press books will be offered at big discounts. The WSU sale will be held Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

at the press office on the WSU campus. For information, call (509) 335-3518. Looking for a winner Wanted: a person or organization boasting outstanding achievement in the public humanities. Purpose: to award them the newly established Heather C. Frank Award.

Whos sponsoring it: the Robbins broke out cfdsstitute circumstances Lifes problems sometimes seem impossible to solve? TALK TO TED (The Family 900 Number) Robbins: Author remains strong throughout life of difficulties Time ebbing Book notes By Dan Webster Staff writer It was a dark and stormy night no, no, no. Helga stepped back from the window, the vision of her beloved, Roger, his lips lashed to those of their next-door neighbor, Natalie, still emblazoned in her no, no, no. Dont do it! Rocky yelled as the masked dwarf reached for the scimitar stashed in the purple sash drawn tight around his and again, no. Whew. This is hard, you know, intentionally trying to write bad prose (as opposed to doing so unintentionally, which is an offense no writer is likely to cop to).

But there is a point in doing so: Writing bad prose well is a demonstration of skill. Only those who understand good prose can ape the bad. Thats the theory, at least, which is why The Spokesman-Review is single-handedly spawned a genre in which no one has yet surpassed him. A read of The Carpetbaggers in 1995 reveals an intricate plot of family conflict and illicit acts as compelling now as it must have been 30 years ago, when it was first published. Its a page-turner in spite of (or perhaps because of) the onedimensional characters and gratuitous sex.

It was the sex, of course, that helped catapult the books sales into the multimillions in its first edition. Robbins says his books are still considered hot stuff in many portions of the country. And theyre still printed in 39 languages. He is a best-selling author these days in Russia. Both the Saturday Review of Literature and the Christian Science Monitor liked The Dream Merchants, although the Monitor balked at the sex: It is regrettable that a book so entertaining and tempered with warm humanity should have been allowed to lapse into such tastelessness.

remembering these crowning moments at the old Coliseum. Please call Cityline to leave your message. A touch-tone phone is required. In Eastern Washington, call (509) 458-8800 and once the connection is made, enter category 9867. In North Idaho call (208) 765-8811, category 9867.

Cityline is free, but normal charges apply to long-distance calls. Be sure and leave your name (spell it out, please) and daytime telephone number. Concert? What concert? If you wander past the Coliseum on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., you might wonder why, on Gods green earth, there are 7,000 people flocking into the place. Biography of Chief Moses (University pf Oklahoma Press, 377 pages, $17.95 paperback) is one of the books that earned Washington historians Robert H. Ruby and John A.

Brown their well-deserved reputation for scholarly effort. Their efforts have opened new areas for research into the complex events surrounding the confrontation of Indians and non-Indians in the settlement of the Columbia Basin, writes University of Colorado anthropology professor Deward E. Walker Jr. in the books introduction. The book tells the story of Chief Moses, also known as Sulktalthscosum or Half-Sun, who was chief of the Salish-speaking Columbia tribe.

Detailing the years between 1850 and 1898, the book highlights Moses refusal to follow Chief Joseph and others into war. Vance Joseph Youmans, curator of the Lincoln County Historical Museum and an instructor at Eastern Washington University, is author of The Plough and the Pen: Paul S. Gross and the Establishment of the Spokane Hutterian Brethren (Parkway Publishers, 146 pages, $25). Youmans book is a history of the fresh produce because of food-distribution problems. Robbins promptly went into the food business, reportedly earned $1 million by 21, then quickly lost it.

He declared bankruptcy and took a shipping-clerk job in the New York warehouse of Universal Pictures. It was there that Robbins happened to read a novel the studio had bought. It was so bad, he told a Universal vice president, that even he an uneducated orphan could write better. The executive said, So do it. The resulting 600-page novel, Never Love a Stranger, was immediately accepted by Alfred A.

Knopf for publication. telling what happens to people in my lifetime. And you know something? Its all the same thing. Exteriors may change, but people are the same. The same conflicts, the same passions.

Theres not that much difference in the way people relate to each other. Look at David Copperfield and look at Danny Fisher. Theyre very similar. This production is by The Cast Adrift Players, a local troupe that specializes in benefits and fundraisers. Sometimes, however, they need to benefit themselves, which is what the Met show is all about.

Tickets are $10, and reservations can be made by calling 624-6230. The performance will be preceded by a champagne reception at 7 p.m. The envelope please The Inlander, Spokanes alternative weekly, will hold its big Best of the Inland Northwest concert and party on Thursday at 9 p.m. at Outback Jacks. Theyll be awarding their annual Best Of readers poll awards.

Itll be just like the Academy Awards, except at this one, maybe Paul Newman will get his lines straight. Citizen Swing, Mark Morrison and Paul Brasch will provide the music. Cover is $4. The beneficiary is VOAs Crosswalk. Continued from E3 greatest story ever told: his autobiography.

Val Guest, British film director and Robbins friend in Palm Springs, recalls that Robbins was very active before the accident. How he gets through his life, which is racked with pain, tells you what a brave and strong person he is. Ive never once heard him grumble. Bob and Mike Pollock, the husband and wife team who wrote and produced Dynasty for eight years, are also neighbors of the Robbinses. Says Bob Pollock: Before we ever met him, we admired Harold, because this guy writes one hell of a story.

Then we got to know and understand him. The touching sweetness and vulnerability thats in his early autobiographical novels has never left the man. Literary critics love to hate Robbins work because hes considered so un-literary. Some call him the Potboiler King, a compliment really, because he Molly Ivins Is one of the funniest political columnists currently covering the national scene. 5t louls Post-Disparch General Admission Tickets: SIS OO Student: $7.50 (I.D.

required) Patron Tickets: $23.00 (Pattons meet the speaker following the program ot catered reception) TO ORDER CALL: 323 SEAT Outside of Spokane Call: 1-300-325-SEAT i AtonoffMonogemertSeMcej Inn tonne Doctaw tack Prowl few farm tarance and Goruogo fed Body Asodann Pr ytucerf by VfYfT C'tAmpnmy Lpchtp PALM SPRINGS, Calif. Abandoned on a church doorstep as an infant, Harold Robbins never met his parents or found out who they were. Fie was raised in a Catholic orphanage on 10th Avenue in New York City a neighborhood so rough it was dubbed Hells Kitchen. When he was old enough, he began to leap over the wall, disappearing for hours at a time to investigate life on the seamy streets. He claims no one at the orphanage ever missed him.

After a series of menial jobs numbers runner, cook, errand boy he landed in a grocery store, where he noticed a shortage of Robbins later novels havent fared so well with critics, some of whom labeled his work crude, cliched, shallow, semi-literate and stereotypical. So what else is new? shrugs Robbins, who prefers to liken himself to Charles wrote about what was happening to real people during the time he lived. Im Its the best kept secret of the week. Its a concert with country stars Sammy Kershaw and Wade Hayes, but not a single ticket has been sold. The tickets are all being given away, because this is KDRK-FMs annual Listener Appreciation Concert.

If you want to go, listen to KDRK-FM at 93.7. Theyre giving away buckets of tickets during live broadcasts. The Owl and the Pussycat Dont overlook this promising theater event at The Met on Wednesday at 8 p.m.: The Owl and the Pussycat, starring the always-excellent Patrick Treadway and Jone Campbell-Bryan. You might remember this show from the hit 1970 movie, which starred George Segal and Barbra Streisand. Its about a stuffy writer who ends up with a friendly neighbor lady in his apartment.

The director is John Bouchard. Spotlight! Audiences didn vote with die remote for news at 10 a iPLUS 1 SEE, SELECT ORDER INSTANTLY, NOT IN WEEKS. And you leave with a FREE PROOF SHEET, so youre certain of what you ordered Continued from E3 forgo network fare such as E.R. or NYPD Blue. Or maybe they just didnt like what they saw.

This was the third incarnation of News at 10, and viewers never flocked to any of them. The 10 p.m. slot on KAYU will be filled with repeats of Ricki Lake, beginning on April 17. Calling Elvis I want your Elvis anecdote. If you have a notable or unusual story about The Kings concerts at the Spokane Coliseum in 1973 or 1977, please call me and tell me about it.

Ill be doing an Elvis at the Coliseum story as a way of i ubpct tee ot $4 00 par person payable when portraits are taken No limit on the number ot advertised collections per family but only one advertised collection per subject Your choice of pose and background Additional poses taken for optional portrait collection with no obligation to purchase Portrait sizes approximate THESE AREA KMARTS HAVE A PERMANENT STUDIO OPEN 5 DAYS 10AM-7PM. On Sun. 10AM (or store opening, if later) -6PM (or store closing, if earlier) SPOKANE (East Sprague N. Division St.) COEUR D'ALENE LEWISTON PONDEREY VERADALE tr -nil flt iff) nr tm.