Bookclub Pick: 47th Street Black, a Look into Chicago’s Painful Past
Mookie and J.C., two black boys from the South Side of Chicago, find the body of a notorious gangster in an alley. It’s the 1960s, and while heroin hasn’t yet […]
It’s Not All Talk at Chicago Ideas Curiosity Series 2017
Alec Baldwin will take a break from wearing orange this spring to speak at Chicago Ideas’ Curiosity Series. The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and writer will be talking about […]
Review: Out of the Basement Describes the Birth of the Punk Scene in Rockford
Out of the Basement: From Cheap Trick to DIY Punk in Rockford, Illinois, 1973-2005 is an autobiographical look at how the punk music scene started in David Ensminger’s hometown of Rockford, […]
Review: James Tadd Adcox, Repetition James Tadd Adcox, Repetition
James Tadd Adcox’s new novella is available in paperback and ebook on Cobalt Press. He will be reading at the Sunday Salon at the Riverview Tavern (1958 W Roscoe) on Sunday January […]
Review: Donika Kelly’s Bestiary Confronts Monstrous Humanity
As soon as we enter Donika Kelly’s Bestiary through its first poem, “Out West”, we undergo a transformation. Under Kelly’s invitation to “rely… on the thrumming wilderness of self,” we expand […]
Review: Goat Days Will Leave You in a Daze
Najeeb’s childhood dream was to become a goatherd. His dream comes true, but in the form a nightmare. Benyamin’s Goat Days follows the twisted turns of Najeeb’s life. First published in […]
Not Your President? Chicago Creative Community Schedules Anti-Trump Activism Events
Special thanks to the Facebook group Chicago Activist Writers who supplied many of the events and descriptions in this round-up. If you’re looking to attend readings and events surrounding and […]
Best of 2016: The Lit Scene in Bookstores and Books
Without debating whether it’s appropriate to say 2016 was a hard year, it’s undoubtedly been a pivotal year, especially for the Chicago lit scene. The Chicago Review of Books, a […]
Barry Gifford’s New York, 1960 Is a Tender Remembrance
“I was about to speak to her/ but hesitated when I realized/ she was browsing through/ the Self-Help section,” writes Barry Gifford in his poem “In a Used Bookstore.” Appearing […]
Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout Is a Heartbreaking Trans Memoir
Standing onstage, Laura Jane Grace is the embodiment of a punk rocker. Part Joan Jett, part Debbie Harry, Grace commands her pop-punk band Against Me! with ease and a crooked smile. […]
Review:Illusions of Magic: Love and intrigue in 1933 Chicago
Illusions of Magic: Love and Intrigue in 1933 Chicago resurrects three little-known aspects of history: the 1933 assassination attempt on Franklin D. Roosevelt that killed Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, the […]
Review: Ron Faiola’s Wisconsin Supper Clubs Another Round
Ron Faiola is no stranger to supper clubs, especially those scattered throughout our neighbor state to the north. Wisconsin Supper Clubs: Another Round is his second glossy coffee-table book focusing on […]