Book Review: The Problem of Being Female—Rodham: A Novel
Rodham: A Novel By Curtis Sittenfield Random House We think we should all know her by now. After decades in the limelight, Hillary Rodham Clinton remains, for many, an enigma. […]
Book Review: Gritty, Oppressive, but Not Ugly Enough, “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair Gets the Graphic Novel Treatment
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, adapted and illustrated by Kristina Gehrmann, translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger Ten Speed Press, 384 pages, $24.99 Kristina Gehrmann’s graphic novel version of Upton Sinclair’s 1906 […]
Beauty, Horror, and Waraq Dawali: Sahar Mustafah Reinvents the American Dream, Chicago-style, in Debut The Beauty of Your Face
After Afaf’s older sister disappears one night, their family is never the same. As her mother succumbs to mental illness and her father to alcoholism, Afaf struggles to come of […]
Long Reads Are Lonnnnnnnnnnnnng—Extra-Long Books for the Serious Social Isolationist
Third Coast Review writer Patrick T. Reardon recently published a fine piece in praise of tackling extra-long reads during the social isolation era. For those who’ve completed all the popular […]
The 10 Best Books about Chicago—and One Clunker
Many very good and even great books have been written about Chicago, and, based on my half century of writing about the city, here are the 10 that, at the […]
An Ongoing Graveyard Shift: Selling Books in Chicago in a Plague Year
Even in the best of times, bookstores have it rough. Just last year the American Booksellers Association reported American bookstore sales were down by 7.6 percent from 2018, sales sliding […]
Six Chicago Books by Non-Chicago Authors
When you’re looking for a good novel about Chicago, you’re most likely to turn to those writers identified as Chicago writers, such as Saul Bellow (The Adventures of Augie March), […]
Book Smarts—An Interview with Pilsen Community Books’ New Owners
Until recently, Pilsen Community Books was operated by owners Mary Gibbons and Aaron Lippelt. Current part-owner Katharine Solheim shares what’s changing and what will stay the same at the shop. […]
Book Review: Nose to the Grindstone or Creative Expression, Dancing with Langston by Sharyn Skeeter
Note: Sharyn Skeeter will discuss Dancing with Langston at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 27, at City Lit Books, 2523 N. Kedzie Blvd., Chicago, in an appearance with Judith Krummeck, […]
Book Review: Into the Light of a Dark, Black Night, Blackbird Blues by Jean K. Carney
Note: Jean K. Carney will discuss Blackbird Blues at the Seminary Co-Op Bookstore (5751 S Woodlawn Avenue) on Thursday, January 16, at 6 p.m. Blackbird Blues; by Jean K. Carney Bedazzled […]
Interview: “Education should be the antithesis to genocide:” Gint Aras Reckons with the Burdens of History
Gint Aras (Karolis Gintaras Žukauskas) has been trapped on planet Earth since 1973. He is the author of two novels, Finding the Moon in Sugar (Infinity, 2009) and The Fugue, (Tortoise, 2016), […]
A Literary Look Back at 2019
The Third Coast Review Lit Department had a very full year, with new writers Patrick T. Reardon, Terry Galvan, and Carr Harkrader joining us and sharing their impeccable insights. Reardon […]