Tonight’s Pick: Paul Fattaruso at Olsson’s Books & Records

Not since Queen’s “Bicycle Race” has an artist been so fixated on the two-wheel mode of transportation. But now we have Paul Fattaruso’s latest book, Bicycle, which falls somewhere between prose and poetry, with one sentence, one thought, per page, accompanied by an occasional sketch by Adam Thompson. It is, above all else, an ode to the bicycle, not merely as a machine but as a phenomenon that shares characteristics with so many living and nonliving things that it somehow comes to encapsulate life’s experiences. Fattaruso’s observations, fantasies, and adorations of the bicycle veer from the quirky (“Though it does not complain, my bicycle is clearly uncomfortable on the couch”) to the beautiful (“Already noon, and still the sunlight is thin as Bible paper; women ride through the streets in their nightgowns”). It’s touching enough that you’ll want to go polish your bike for good measure.

Fattaruso reads from and signs copies of his work at 7 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 1307 19th St. NW. Free. (202) 785-1133. —Kim Gooden