Essay: True West
One Sunday afternoon a number of years ago I found a finger puppet lying outside Maclean House, the former dormitory (now apartments) named in honor of the late Norman Maclean, […]
Review: On Beyond Lincoln: Exploring the Land of Lincoln: The Essential Guide to Illinois Historic Sites
Exploring the Land of Lincoln: The Essential Guide to Illinois Historic Sites By Charles Titus 3 Fields Books I asked my non-Illinoisan Twitter followers to tell me three things they […]
Dialogs: Elizabeth Kolbert and Eula Biss Talk Unintended Consequences and Problems Caused by Solutions in CHF Panel
The Chicago River, as many of us know, once flowed the other way, into Lake Michigan. It was reversed—a triumph of engineering, at the time—to move sewage and waste water […]
Dialogs: Michio Kaku and LeVar Burton Bring Joy and Excitement to the Solar System and Beyond
What do junior high school science, science fiction, string theory, the God equation, and Elvis Presley have in common? They all played a starring role in physicist Michio Kaku and […]
Review: Lefse, Lutefisk, and Other Norwegian Things, For the Love of Cod, by Eric Dregni
For the Love of Cod: A Father and Son’s Search for Norwegian Happiness Eric Dregni University of Minnesota Press Eric Dregni is only partly Norwegian but that hasn’t stopped him […]
Review: Small-Town Ghosts, Spoon River America, by Jason Stacy
Spoon River America: Edgar Lee Masters and the Myth of the American Small Town By Jason Stacy University of Illinois Press It’s ironic that Spoon River Anthology—perhaps the most famous […]
Dialogs: Louis Menand Commingles Art, Ideas and the Cold War in CHF Discussion
A parade of artists and pop art, literary and music figures from mid-century America populate Louis Menand’s new book, The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War. The […]
Review: Private Arts, The People’s Porn: A History of Handmade Pornography in America, by Lisa Z Sigel
The People’s Porn: A History of Handmade Pornography in America By Lisa Z Sigel Reaktion Books Masturbation is the only sex act that’s both universal and forbidden. Universal in that […]
Review: Another Day’s Begun Recasts Thornton Wilder’s Our Town as a Play That Speaks to Our Time
Another Day’s Begun: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st CenturyBy Howard ShermanMetheun Drama, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Like most theater critics and theater lovers, I’ve seen Thornton Wilder’s Our Town […]
Dialogs: The Pentagon Papers 50 Years Later with Geoffrey Stone and Guests in CHF Event
Fifty years ago, Daniel Ellsberg, an economist and military analyst, created a national controversy that resulted in a landmark press freedom decision by the US Supreme Court. He did it […]
Review: How Soul Got Its Soul, Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power, by Aaron Cohen
Move on Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power By Aaron Cohen University of Chicago Press One of the pleasures of reading Aaron Cohen’s 2019 Move On Up: Chicago […]
Review: A Pride Parade on Paper, Queer Legacies, by John D’Emilio
Queer Legacies: Stories from Chicago’s LGBTQ Archives John D’Emilio University of Chicago Press Reviewed by Carr Harkrader Who doesn’t love a parade? It wouldn’t be completely wrong to describe Queer […]