Book Review: Jack Pendarvis’ Movie Stars
Author, former columnist, and story editor for the exceptional (and long running) animated series Adventure Time, Jack Pendarvis, has a gift for blunt, ironic, and forceful language. This is on […]
Early Morning, Weehawken, 1804
July 11 is the anniversary of the Hamilton-Burr duel at Weehawken, NJ. June Skinner Sawyers has written an homage to Hamilton and to his modern-day re-creators. Sawyers has published many […]
CST’s Doreen Sayegh Brings the Bard to the City of Big Shoulders with Shakespeare 400 Chicago
Doreen Sayegh has been a skosh busy. Playwright and quote-machine William Shakespeare died 400 years ago this year, and a few folks still like to produce his work, so […]
R.O.W.E. week 26: Write Bloody Poets
I’m Brianna Kratz, a Chicago poet and literature enthusiast. In 2016, I’m reading only women authors for my Read Only Women Experiment (R.O.W.E.). For weekly updates on challenges, conversations, and […]
Book Review: The Great Books Foundation’s Her Own Accord
The Great Books Foundation is an independent nonprofit 501 (c)(3) educational organization that works to encourage “open discussion of literature that promotes civil discourse, civic engagement, and social justice.” With […]
826CHI Debuts The Monster Gasped, OMG!
Among the many treasures one could stumble across at this past weekend’s Printer’s Row Lit Fest, one of the finest, and most polyphonic, comes from 826CHI, a literacy and education […]
Review: Disco Demolition Night by Dave Hoekstra
The front page of the July 13, 1979, issue of the Chicago Sun-Times featured a photo of Sox fans storming the field. In the background, the scoreboard reads “please return to your […]
Book Review, The Empty Bottle Chicago: 21+ Years Music/ Friendly/ Dancing
“Hole-in-the-wall” is the most popular description for the beloved music venue The Empty Bottle. Local Chicago publishing house Curbside Splendor has released a coffee table book, chronicling the shows, personalities […]
Review: MICKEY a Smart and Truthful Take on Millennial Heartbreak
For anyone who’s ever felt like they’re slowly drowning in a pool of abandoned dreams and self loathing, Mickey is a drinking buddy and a good companion. Published by Chicago-based […]
R.O.W.E. week 22: For all the 20-Somethings
I’m Brianna Kratz, a Chicago poet and literature enthusiast. In 2016, I’m reading only women authors for my Read Only Women Experiment (R.O.W.E.). For weekly updates on challenges, conversations, and […]
The Chicago Review of Terrible Books Presents: Orgy Tips from 1969
I have been a terrible book reviewer, in both ways that can be taken. I meant well, oh I did. I even have a cadre of shit-lit lined up, […]
An Interview with Jessa Crispin, the Bookslut
Jessa Crispin, world traveler and occasional Chicago resident recently shuttered her website Bookslut, a review and interview publication that’s been running hot since 2002 (full disclosure: I wrote for Bookslut […]