Commune With the City’s Dead In New Book About Chicago Cemeteries, Chicago Eternal
Cemeteries remind us this is a city of change in multiple ways. Not just the impermanence and fragility of life, but in the ways the landscape of the city shifts […]
Bitch Planet Vol. 1 is Well Worth the Read
Given the current political climate and the completely welcome rebellion against male-dominated media, it’s no surprise that a comic like Bitch Planet hits all the right feminist notes. A quick-witted and […]
Up in Here Falls Flat in Form, But Starts a Necessary Conversation
Up in Here is the memoir of writer Mark Dostert. Having written for publications like Salon and the Houston Chronicle, Dostert has written Up in Here, his first full book, about his experience as a […]
The Best Books We’ve Read in 2017
Sometimes, you read something that makes you stop. It clings to you. A few of our writers spoke of the books that have stripped them of their expectations. Here are […]
Pioneers of German Graphic Design Shows Links to Chicago’s Graphic Design History
Pioneers of German Graphic Design by Jens Müller is a deep dive into the early history of graphic design and demonstrates why Germany (and Austria and Switzerland) are so important […]
The Chicago Food Encyclopedia: The Best Gift for the Food Obsessed
The gift-giving season is upon us. And if you are like me, you struggle to find the perfect gift for the person who seems to have everything. Happily, I have […]
Machado Challenges Literary and Sexual Forms in Her Body and Other Parties
Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties is a brilliant collection that makes you forget normal short stories. The most experimental story in her debut–at least in terms of […]
Review: Windy City Blues Layers Love and Politics Over the Early Days of Chicago Electric Blues
Note: Windy City Blues has been selected by Spertus Institute for its One Book One Community book of the year. Spertus has several events planned around Rosen’s book. If you […]
Book Review: Mycology and its Mighty Ending
Joan Wilking’s prose is breezy even though the material is heavy. Her first book Mycology is the winner of the 2016 Wild Onion Novella Prize bestowed by Chicago publisher Curbside Splendor. […]
Chicago’s Literati Harmonize in Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology
Have you ever contributed to a church or neighborhood cookbook? Have you ever bought one? Are matriarchal communities still pooling their creativity into volumes of recipes as a testament to […]
Steve Wiley’s Grown-up Chicago Fairytale Lacks a Happy Ending
New York is a city of legends. Los Angeles is a town of myths. In The Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan, author Steve Wiley frames the city in a milieu […]
Roxane Gay, Camille Paglia and Jessa Crispin at War in My Head
Several weeks ago, I went to hear Roxane Gay read from her latest book Hunger as a part of the Chicago Humanities Festival Now summer programming. The event fell on […]