Donate Books; Spark Joy (In Others)
A few months back, there was a gross misunderstanding on the Internet. No, really. Noted tiny organizer lady Marie Kondo, filled with an unquenchable thirst for bibliocide, commanded everyone to […]
Dan Kelly has been a writer and editor for 30 years, contributing work to Chicago Magazine, the Chicago Reader, Chicago Journal, The Baffler, Harvard Magazine, The University of Chicago Magazine, and others.
Book Review:“The Beauty of Inclusion,” Chicago Treasure by Larry Broutman, Rich Green, and John Rabias
Chicago Treasure by Larry Broutman, Rich Green, and John Rabias Lake Claremont Press Is Chicago a fairy-tale city? Wait a minute. I’ve asked that before. But it’s a question worth […]
Review: The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt by Ken Krimstein
The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth By Ken Krimstein Bloomsbury Publishing Am I intelligent enough to critique the life’s work of philosopher and political theorist Hannah […]
Book Review—Go Down, Moser: Way Down in Chicagoland
Chicago: From Vision to Metropolis By Whet Moser Reaktion Books Ltd. Does full-disclosure apply to Twitter acquaintances? If so, I know Whet Moser from the internet. I don’t follow many […]
All You Need Is Lovecraft—Bucket O’ Blood’s 3rd Annual Lovecraft Death Day Soirée
Plenty of writers have mastered their craft, but few have fostered a genre. Howard Phillips Lovecraft—purveyor of pulp fictional cosmic terror—did both. Dying at age 46 on March 15, 1937, […]
VGA Limned the Video Star—Interview with Tiffany Funk of the Video Game Art Reader
What’s the status of art in state of the art video games? Do pixelated citizens have a sense of aesthetics? Will we find a Van Gogh or Basquiat skin among […]
All the Dery Details—Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey—Book Review
Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery Little, Brown and Company If cartoonist Edward Gorey didn’t exist, we would have had […]
Review: Temporary Monuments: Work by Rosemary Mayer, 1977–1982
Temporary Monuments: Work by Rosemary Mayer, 1977–1982 Soberscove Press Edited by Marie Warsh and Max Warsh Introduction by Gillian Sneed I was never an art student, but I picked up […]
Review: The Leopold and Loeb Files: An Intimate Look at One of America’s Most Infamous Crimes
Chicago has had its share of dynamic duos: Adler and Sullivan, Jordan and Pippen, Bozo and Cooky, Moo and Oink… Less dynamic and more demonic were Chicago killers Nathan Leopold […]
How Do You Smoke a Weed?—Graphic Novel Review
I have a secret, neither dark nor deep. Never have I ever smoked pot. You kids still call it pot, right? Marijuana is pejorative. Grass, Mary Jane, and reefer seem […]
Books-a-Seven-Thousand: Pilsen Community Books to Host First Annual Book Sale, October 5–6
Mary Gibbons, co-owner of Pilsen Community Books says her store had a bevy of books… Nay—a surfeit of books… Strike that—a profound profusion, if not potential plethora of books in storage, […]
Da Sacred and Profane: The Best of Royko: The Tribune Years—Review
I met my good friend, Flats Slobnik—tuck pointer, softball shortstop, and professional Chicago everyman—at our favorite watering hole, Brzbchynski’s Tavern on Pulaski and Lower Wacker Drive. Karol Brzbchynski, a 300-pound […]