Features Wed Jun 11 2008

Books for Dads

Father's Day is coming up this Sunday, June 15, so why not get dad a little something from your local bookshop? The following titles might give you some ideas for summer reading for your father or other special guy in your life. As a bonus, in keeping with our local spirit, all the titles have a Chicago connection.

New Dads might enjoy Alternadad: The True Story of One Family's Struggle to Raise a Cool Kid in America by Neal Pollack in which the former Chicago Reader staffer and "self-styled party guy" tells how he and his wife managed to become responsible parents without giving up their hipster lifestyle.

If your dad appreciates a good laugh, try When You Are Engulfed in Flames, the sixth collection of essays by bestselling humorist David Sedaris.

Political junkies will love the new book from Lake Claremont Press Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians, and Murderers in an American Courtroom by Andy Austin. Austin has been a courtroom artist in Chicago for the past 40 years and covered some of the city's biggest trials including those of the Chicago Seven, John Wayne Gacy and Joey “the Clown” Lombardo. Rule 53 is her account of the drama she has witnessed in Chicago's courtrooms.

Local history buffs will appreciate Chicago under Glass: Early Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, a wonderful photography book by Mark Jacob and Richard Cahan, or give him Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott, the bestselling book about Chicago's legendary Everleigh Club brothel which is now out in paperback.

Finally, if the dad in your life loves a good story, give him The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon about the death of Lazarus Averbuch in Chicago in 1908 and a writer who becomes obsessed with Averbuch's story in the present day.

All of these books will keep fathers busy reading this summer. Check them out and make this Sunday a happy father's day for someone in your life.

- Alice Maggio