Book Review—Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Trust Exercise Susan Choi Henry Holt and Co. If high school didn’t exist, writers would have to invent it. A writer’s job is to articulate what others feel; and what […]
“I Wanna Go on with That Next One Myself”: Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson
Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson By Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow Chicago Review Press Robert Johnson is a definitive legend, though the dead-at-27 bluesman […]
Review: Ensemble-Made Chicago Lets Us Peek Into Some of Chicago’s Most Inventive Theaters
Chicago is home to 200 to 250 theater companies, depending on who’s counting. Most of them are what we might call traditional theaters that stage scripted productions, both new works […]
Smells Like Heavy Metal Poisoning: An Interview with Cinéaste Mike McPadden
Mike “McBeardo” McPadden is truth in human packaging. A beard is indeed present, bristly, with streaks of grey—suggesting wisdom in matters strange and arcane. I’ve seen McPadden in action as […]
Book Review:“The Beauty of Inclusion,” Chicago Treasure by Larry Broutman, Rich Green, and John Rabias
Chicago Treasure by Larry Broutman, Rich Green, and John Rabias Lake Claremont Press Is Chicago a fairy-tale city? Wait a minute. I’ve asked that before. But it’s a question worth […]
Review: The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt by Ken Krimstein
The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth By Ken Krimstein Bloomsbury Publishing Am I intelligent enough to critique the life’s work of philosopher and political theorist Hannah […]
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 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: 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 […]