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: Ohio by Stephen Markley Doesn’t Quite Reach Its Destination
Ohio Stephen Markley Simon & Schuster Reviewed by Carr Harkrader Ohio, the debut novel by Stephen Markley, is a bumpy journey that doesn’t quite reach its destination. It starts with […]
Review: Hamilton Is the Star in Tribune Critic Chris Jones’ Broadway Book Rise Up!
The Capitol building in Washington DC is sometimes referred to as the People’s House, a great gathering place where the exchange of ideas (some new, some radical, some contradictory) is […]
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 […]
Survivor Explores Trauma, and Speculative Literature, Through Uniquely Varied Stories: Book Review
One of the things I love about speculative literature is its ability to capture the emotional impact of real, plausible experiences through fantastic metaphors. It’s also just really fun to […]
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 […]
Certain American States Has Captivating Writing Wrapped In Ennui—Book Review
Certain American States is peculiar. Catherine Lacey’s first short story collection has a similar feel to her last published book, the understated satire The Answers. With a subtle flair for […]
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, […]