This week, the Seattle Review of Books is sponsored by Paul Mullin, playwright, poet, and creator/curator of the Loud Mouth Lit reading series. We're infinitely grateful to Paul for supporting the site and for sharing a chapter from his memoir, The Starting Gate, with our readers. The excerpt is a great standalone story: the down-and-dirty (or up-and-clean) on the dangers of washing windows on a New York highrise when you're a young writer with three jobs and no time to sleep. And it's an irresistible entry point for Mullin's no-holds-barred style.

Buy a copy of The Starting Gate here. Or come out for this month's edition of Loud Mouth Lit, at St. Andrew's Bar on Tuesday night, to hear Mullin read — Lindy West is also on the marquee, so it should be a brilliant night for anger done funny — and pick up a copy while you're there.

Sponsors like Paul Mullin make the Seattle Review of Books possible. Did you know you could sponsor us, as well? Slots for spring and summer 2018 are open now and going fast. If you have a book, event, or opportunity you’d like to get in front of our readers, reserve your dates now.