'Omnivore's Dilemma' author Michael Pollan to appear at WWU Jan. 14

[ Editor's note: Tickets for this event have sold out. For more information, contact the WWU Box Office at (360) 650-3146. ]

Western Washington University will host Michael Pollan, author of the acclaimed "Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals,” the Western Reads book for the 2009-2010 academic year, from 7:30-9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14, at the WWU Performing Arts Center Mainstage.

In its sixth year, Western Reads is WWU's campus-wide reading program designed to promote intellectual engagement and civil discourse among members of the campus community.

All new freshman and transfer students received a complimentary copy of "Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" at orientation. In his 2006 book, Pollan explores the significance of how we answer the age-old question, "What's for dinner?"

"What's at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children's health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on Earth," Pollan argues.

For the past 20 years, Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: food, agriculture, gardens, drugs and architecture.

He is the author, most recently, of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto." "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" was named one of the 10 best books of 2006 by The New York Times and The Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award and the James Beard Award for best food writing, and it was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Another of Pollan's books, "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World," was a New York Times bestseller, received the Borders Original Voices Award for the best non-fiction work of 2001 and was recognized as a best book of the year by the American Booksellers Association and Amazon.com.

Tickets for this event are available at the PAC box office for $15 per seat, and are also available for purchase online at http://tickets.wwu.edu.

For general parking info, visit http://www.ps.wwu.edu/parking/map/. For box office hours or venue information, call the WWU box office at (360) 650-6146 or e-mail boxoffice@wwu.edu.