New York-based writer L.A. Chandlar is the author of The Silver Gun and the just-published The Gold Pawn, the first two books in her Art Deco Mystery series. I spoke with […]
It’s 2004 through 2008. We’re taken through Chicago through Jessica Hopper’s eyes, to a show, to a nighttime tour of the city by bike, to a warehouse party. We’re given […]
Do you know: The first gay rights advocacy group in the United States was formed in Chicago in 1924? There was a legally recognized same-sex marriage in Chicago in 1923? […]
Until very recently, I rode the Green Line to work every day. Occasionally, I would notice the billboards at a stop on the West Side were experiencing an advertising blitz, […]
When you hear a particularly eerie or scary story as a child, your consciousness is muddled, but your senses are heightened: you hear every creak and you wonder about every […]
I didn’t know who Camille Bordas was until last summer, when her novel How To Behave in a Crowd was published. I learned she was a Chicago resident, and friends […]
The 12-part PBS series, “Poetry in America,” features one significant work of poetry in each segment. “Skyscraper” by Chicago poet Carl Sandburg was the star of episode 5 and is […]
Journalists love looking for America, and Dave Hoekstra—WGN radio host and author of The Camper Book: A Celebration of a Moveable American Dream—is as smitten as the rest. For the […]
Whatever happened to melodrama? A hero, a villain, a damsel in distress—a histrionic trinity entangled over late rent payments, potentially besmirched honor, and the inevitable train track bondage scene. Well, […]
In her debut novel The Window, Amelia Brunskill tells the story of Jess Cutter, a Montanan girl whose twin sister Anna is found dead below her bedroom window. Jess—as thoughtful, […]
Eating at my favorite Chinese restaurant always leaves me with a craving to create those delectable dishes myself. I’ve played around with stir-fries and sticky rice over the years—to varying […]
I wish I could describe Edward McClelland in legendary terms—it would be so damned apropos. I’d tell you he’s as tall as a redwood, as strong as a herd […]