Award gratifying to writer of a novel about epilepsy.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

Writing a one-sentence synopsis of Seattle writer Garth Stein's latest novel is almost as daunting as writing a one-paragraph summary of his career.

While still a graduate student at Columbia University, Stein directed an award-winning documentary (``What's Wrong With This Building?'') about a controversial proposed addition to the Whitney Museum. He won an Oscar as co-producer of the short film ``The Lunch Date.''

His next project, a documentary about his sister's brain surgery for epilepsy, aired nationally on PBS. He then co-produced ``The Last Party,'' starring Robert Downey Jr.; produced two music videos directed by Johnny Depp, and directed another film (``Philadelphia, Mississippi.'')

His first play, ``Brother Jones,'' was a finalist for the 2004 Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference and opened at the Lyric Hyperion Theater in Los Angeles in February 2005.

His first novel, ``Raven Stole the Moon,'' drew on his Alaskan Tlingit Indian heritage. It was published by Pocket Books in both hardcover and paperback and has been translated into Japanese and German.

Whew. (Deep breath.)

Now Stein has won a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award for ``How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets'' (Soho Press, 368 pages, $25), published last spring.

It is the story of 31-year-old Evan, a former lead guitarist for a one-hit-wonder rock band, as he becomes an instant single parent to the 14-year-old son he never knew he had. Evan also addresses his troubled relationship with his own father and fully confronts the epilepsy that haunts and threatens his life.

Phew. (Another deep breath.)

``Never Mind Nirvana'' author Mark Lindquist calls Stein's characters ``as real and moody as the wet streets and spotty charcoal skyline'' of his Seattle setting. Publishers Weekly praised the book as an ``engrossing family drama'' written with ``honesty and compassion.''

Stein himself says the story deals, at its heart, with the relationship between fathers and sons. Though the book also gave him a chance to "mine the depths of epilepsy" that shaped his own family and childhood.

``I don't have it, so at first I didn't want to presume to explain it from the point of view of someone with epilepsy,'' he said. ``But you have to make that jump. That's what fiction is about. I had a date with this character.''

On the other hand, he's had no experience with teenage fatherhood, Stein is quick to point out.

``But I do know a guy who this happened to, and I find it fascinating,'' he said.

Though he's been no stranger to acclaim since his grad school days, Stein was gratified by the award from PNBA, an association of independent booksellers from five Northwest states.

``I've done a lot of different things,'' he said. ``I've worked in film. I've had a play produced in Los Angeles. With both of those, there's something immediate about the feedback. You hear the crowd reaction on opening night. There's a party backstage, and the next day there's a review in the paper.

``But with a book, the feedback kind of trickles out. Maybe one day you walk into Borders or Elliott Bay (bookstore in Seattle) and see your book on the shelf and think, `That's cool.' But I got so excited when the publisher called me about this award. You know that it's some outside validation, from people who read a ton of books, and know what's out there.''

It's also ``very encouraging'' to recall that previous PNBA winners have included the likes of Ursula Le Guin and Chuck Palahniuk, he said.

Stein's next project, ``The Boy Who Returned From Heaven'' is a sequel to his first book that will allow him to again explore an Alaska setting and Tlingit culture.

Stein is also a married father of two and a part-time writer in residence at two Seattle elementary schools.

``I get to be the rock star teacher,'' he said. ``I come in two days a week to teach the kids, and then I get to leave before they get all crazy.''