Review: The Billboard, by Natalie Y. Moore
In this pivotal moment in the struggle for reproductive rights, Natalie Y. Moore’s The Billboard comes at a time when its message couldn’t be more relevant to the world today. […]
Review: The Mean Streets of the Near North Side, The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown
The Fabulous Clipjoint By Fredric Brown Penzler Fredric Brown’s murder mystery, The Fabulous Clipjoint, first published in 1947, and reissued last December by Penzler Publishers, was good enough to win an […]
Review: Just Add Water, The Fountain, by David Scott Hay
The Fountain By David Scott Hay Whiskey Tit Jasper P. Duckworth is a critic in an alternate universe Chicago for Chicago Shoulders, a New City-like (or, if you will, Third […]
Interview: Dystopia in Utopia: Brian Pinkerton, Author of The Nirvana Effect
Author Brian Pinkerton is a lifelong resident of the Chicago area, growing up on, as he puts it, “Bozo’s Circus and Ray Rayner…Creature Features and Cubs baseball.” With 12 […]
Review: An Untold Story from Ulysses, The Curious Odyssey of Rudolph Bloom, By Richard Reeder
The Curious Odyssey of Rudolph Bloom by Richard Reeder Propertius Press The Curious Odyssey of Rudolph Bloom by Chicago writer Richard Reeder is a curious book, and not just because […]
Interview: Not Afraid of the Dark: A Talk with Writer Richard Thomas
Numerically speaking, 2/22/22 (today), has a special resonance for Chicago area writer, editor, and teacher Richard Thomas. His latest book, Spontaneous Human Combustion (Keylight), a collection of short stories, was […]
Kids Can Learn Sign Language, Storytelling and Teamwork with Sweet Animated Video Calvin Can’t Fly
Jennifer Berne wrote the storybook Calvin Can’t Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie in 2010, and her second cousin Sarah Michaelson directed and produced a video version last year. […]
Review: Victimized at Every Turn, Carry the Dog by Stephanie Gangi
Note: Stephanie Gangi will discuss her new novel Carry the Dog in conversation with Chicago author Christie Tate at 6pm Wednesday, November 3, in a free virtual event through Barbara’s […]
Review: Chicago Grittiness With an Eye for Beauty: Sacred City by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Sacred City By Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. University of New Mexico Press The Teddy in Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.’s new short story collection Sacred City has a way […]
Son of Featured Creatures: Chicago Horror Writers and Artists Share Their Favorite Chicago Horror Creators
Unless you’re an easily frightened tourist, Chicago is rarely considered a hotbed of horror. But as Third Coast Review has pointed out before, our town has a distinguished pedigree in […]
Review: Raising Issues Beyond Entertainment, In the Aftermath, by Jane Ward
In the Aftermath By Jane Ward She Writes Press Jane Ward’s In the Aftermath is an earnest, even affecting examination of the strong waves of guilt, sadness, and anger among […]
Review—Jane of Battery Park Escapes Evangelicalism and Finds Love
Jane of Battery Park By Jaye Viner Red Hen Press Jane, a nurse who escaped an ultra-conservative evangelical upbringing to live in hiding in LA, runs into her college crush […]