Chicago Is Lit: February Literary Events, News, and More
Third Coast Review writer Elizabeth Niarchos Neukirch is stepping away from writing the Chicago Is Lit column, though she will continue to contribute to TCR. In the meantime, Lit editor […]
Review: Heartbreakingly Real, Where Is My Sister?, by Shannon Gibney, Illustrated by Huy Voun Lee
Where Is My Sister, written by Shannon Gibney and illustrated by Huy Voun Lee, is a heartbreakingly real way to approach the loss of a sibling. Infant death is an […]
Review: Taylor Thornburg’s Agathe 6:00 p.m. to 7:27 Is an Intriguing Tour Through Memory
In the interest of transparency, I want to disclose I met the author Taylor Thornburg at an open mic and wrote this review after speaking with him. Later I attended […]
Review: Seeing Beauty in the Ordinary, Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture
One of the many joys of reading Carla Bruni and Phil Thompson’s Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture is the way the book dazzles the reader with […]
Review: Scary Cherubs and the “Hebrew” Nickname, Lost in Translation: Recovering the Origins of Familiar Biblical Words, by Joel S. Baden
When it comes to history, including religious history, Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, writes that it’s important to attempt “a real engagement with the strangeness of the past.” […]
Review: “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” Locating Loss in Lake Markham’s Lo Siento
Reviewed by Tori Rego The well-worn “a stranger comes to town” narrative genesis is given new life in Lake Markham’s debut novel, Lo Siento. The main character, as much as […]
Review: Apocalyptic Fears and Apoplectic Rage, Walking Chicago’s Coast: A 63-Mile Journey to the Indiana Dunes, by Michael McColly
Based on its bright, attractive cover of the lakeshore skyline, Walking Chicago’s Coast looks like one of those ain’t-Chicago-great booster books written to promote the city as a world-class metropolis […]
Review: State of the Fine Arts: Chicago’s Fine Arts Building, by Keir Graff
How does an old Chicago building survive? Public outcry and organized protest have saved a few, yes, but it usually comes down to owners and occupants continuing to give a […]
Dialogs: Cultural Icon Margaret Atwood on The Handmaid’s Tale, ICE Raids, and Her New Book of Lives
“There are many ways to do the work in this moment,” Women & Children First Co-Owner Lynn Mooney said by way of introducing prolific novelist and poet Margaret Atwood at […]
Review: A Chicagoan of Gentleness and Steeliness, Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy, by Christopher White
I don’t think I’m the only Chicagoan who finds it strangely exhilarating to realize that, over the past 60 or so years, I might have ridden in the same el […]
Review: The Patron Saints of Politics, Clout City: The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Political Machine, by Dominic A. Pacyga
Two-thirds of the way through his history of the Democratic political machine in Chicago, Clout City, Dominic A. Pacyga gives a handful of examples of the requests for favors that […]
Culinary Gifts That Won’t Fill Your Cabinets
I love a kitchen gift, but I already have the best fish spatula, every appliance one could wish for, and what is known as an investment whisk. So, when it […]