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Book Club

News Tue Sep 09 2008

Does CPL Have It? Search the Catalog from Anywhere

Are you trying to save a few extra pennies these days? Or maybe you just want to dust off that old resolution to "use the library more." Well, using the Chicago Public Library just got even easier.

Ian Olsen-Clark, the man who brought us the original Chicago Public Library bookmarklet, has created a new and improved catalog search bookmarklet that works with CPL's revamped online catalog.

See an interesting book mentioned on someone's blog, a news website or while surfing your favorite online bookstore? Before you add that book to your virtual shopping cart, highlight the title, the author or the ISBN number and click on the "CPL Catalog Look-Up" bookmarklet button in your browser to see if the Chicago Public Library has it.

If the library has it, you can find out if a copy is available at your nearest branch. If not, use the library's new online holds function to place the book on hold and have it delivered to your favorite branch for pickup.

Near instant gratification, and it's FREE. The Chicago Public Library catalog search bookmarklet is an excellent tool that will help you take advantage of CPL's many resources, enriching your life at no cost to you. That's a money-saving tip I can get behind.

Find out how to download the Chicago Public Library Look-Up bookmarklet, and spread the word.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Sep 08 2008

Help the Environment, Help Literacy

You know how Whole Foods rewards you for bringing your own shopping by giving you ten cents back on your total purchase? Now, instead of just helping the environment with your conscientiousness, you can also help improve literacy. When you go to Whole Foods now through October 31, you can request that your dime be given to Open Books, a local non-profit bookstore and literacy community. This applies to five of the Whole Foods locations in Chicago (excluding the Cicero location). It's an easy way to do two good things at one time.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Thu Sep 04 2008

Book Site of the Week: Publishers Marketplace Bookstore Maps

Publishers Marketplace now has Bookstore Maps, an excellent new tool that allows you to find "independent, specialty, chain and college bookstores throughout the country, and survey the book retail landscape in any region." You can search by store name, state or zip code, but they also have a number of regional maps, including one for the Chicago area. The Chicago map currently lists 139 stores, from 57th Street Books in Hyde Park to Wonderland Books & Toys in Rockford, Ill. Stores are also color-coded, indicating whether it is a chain store, college bookstore, independent or specialty bookshop. Very nicely done. Check it out.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Sep 04 2008

Happy 100th Birthday, Richard Wright

I wish I could say we planned this—wait, yes, we totally planned this—but Richard Wright was born 100 years ago today. The Writer's Almanac marks the occasion, and you can celebrate with us on Monday when we meet to discuss his best-known novel, Native Son.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Sat Aug 30 2008

Briefly Noted

Marcus Sakey and Michael Harvey both get high-fives for their latest crime novels in the Tribune.

• The Night Bookmobile makes a mysterious appearance at Wrigley Field in the latest installment of Audrey Niffenegger's illustrated story in the Guardian.

• Also, Aleksandar Hemon reads from The Lazarus Project and talks about the book in the Guardian podcast.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (1)

News Sat Aug 30 2008

Rabid Fans Only

Fantagraphics is publishing a new, deluxe-edition of Ghost World, which includes annotations by Clowes, a new introduction, the Oscar-nominated screenplay by Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, and lots of ephemera from the graphic novel and the film.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Aug 27 2008

The Fifth Floor Book Trailer

Michael Harvey, author of the crime novel The Chicago Way, has a new novel coming out titled The Fifth Floor, and this promotional trailer for the book is garnering attention for its "consistent visual aesthetic," as GalleyCat described it. Check it out:

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Aug 22 2008

Examination for Entrance

Do you have what it takes to be a librarian for the Chicago Public Library...circa 1925? Take the test and find out.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Aug 22 2008

Quickly Noted


• "In this one woman's book, I drew a plank. Then it looked like it would be a sign, like you'd have in a yard. So I wrote 'Abortions, $3'. She was upset, so I changed it to $13." David Sedaris talks about signing books.

Happy 88th Birthday, Ray Bradbury.

• "Hemon parlayed his experience into English that manages to be laconic, springy and brilliantly off-centre. It tastes unforgettable, like pickles or asparagus." The Independent reviews The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Aug 19 2008

Remembering Richard Wright

Funny how these stories pop up just as we're reading the book.

NPR talks to daughter Julia Wright about her father's legacy and his posthumously published work, A Father's Law. The site also has a short excerpt from the book.

In the Washington Post, a friend of Richard Wright's also looks back on the author's legacy, recalling that while he was living in Paris, Wright confided, "I'm a Negro. I'm a former communist. I'm married to a woman who's not only white but a Jewess. I'm trying to live in a country whose language I'll never really learn. Small wonder I have enemies!"

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Aug 18 2008

"I stood at the corner of Ravenswood and Belle Plaine for six hours, by myself"

The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger continues in the Guardian. Read the series so far.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Aug 18 2008

Contemporary Crime Writing

Rick Kogan has a nice profile of Chicago crime writers Marcus Sakey and Sean Chercover. Both novelists have new books out. Sakey's Good People is now in stores while Chercover's Trigger City is due to hit shelves in October.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Aug 18 2008

Transitions Bookplace Closes

Transitions Bookplace has closed. The Chicago Tribune has an eulogy.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Aug 07 2008

GB Book Club Connects Readers

The Gapers Block Book Club is named as one of the "100 Places to Connect with Other Bibliophiles Online." You can find us in the blogs category, but be sure to visit some of the other great resources listed.

You can connect with us online here anytime, but remember you can also connect with us in-person this Monday, August 11, when we meet at The Book Cellar to talk about our current book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Hope to see you there.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Aug 07 2008

CPL Has Right Stuff

Okay, the headline is cliché. But last week the Chicago Public Library announced The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe for the Fall 2008 selection of the "One Book, One Chicago" program. Check out the link above because there are lots of copies still available. Grab them while you can.

To celebrate, the city is screening the 1983 film version of The Right Stuff, starring Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid and Sam Shepard, at Grant Park on Thursday, August 14 at 8pm. Visit the library website for more information.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Aug 05 2008

Elizabeth Berg, Dunkin' Donuts and Oprah

Elizabeth Berg talks about her recent story collection The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, doughnuts and how Oprah acted a sign that she needed to move to Chicago.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Aug 05 2008

Author of Loving Frank Talks to Trib

Oak Park native Nancy Horan was recently profiled in the Tribune, and there are some wise words for all beginning writers:

"What set Horan's life going in an entirely new direction was the moment she sat down with a yellow legal pad and a pen and began to tell a story. What truly mattered was the moment she decided that—long odds be damned—she would write about what intrigued her, in the way she wanted to, and try to get it published."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jul 31 2008

New Art from Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger has a comic running in the Guardian called The Night Bookmobile.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jul 31 2008

Trib Readers Respond

The Trib published some responses it received from its request for feedback about the (likely endangered) Books section. Responders include author Sara Paretsky and Roberta Rubin of the The Book Stall in Winnetka.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jul 24 2008

Dorothy the Modern Heroine

Dorothy the New Woman? In a timely article, the Guardian UK writes about The Wizard of Oz, our current book club selection:

"Dorothy in the book is definitely a modern heroine, if not a New Woman; she is the predecessor of many a plucky, stoic, staunch girl lead — neither a milksop nor a tomboy, but a little girl who embarks on her adventures in a spirit of curiosity, wonder and self-reliance."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jul 24 2008

James Wood on Alexander Hemon

James Wood writes a major critique of Alexander Hemon for the New Yorker:

"Hemon’s fiction has always been daring: Nowhere Man uses three or maybe four different narrators to rub in the silhouette of Jozef Pronek’s complicated life. The Lazarus Project is in some ways bolder still. It alternates chapters describing Brik’s travels with chapters imagining Lazarus Averbuch’s existence in the early twentieth century. It is both a historical fiction and an inquiry into the limits of historical fictionalizing."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Jul 23 2008

Eric & Rachel = Henry & Clare?

It's official: the oft-talked about Brad-Pitt-and-Jennifer-Aniston-owned movie version of Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife is slated for release on Christmas of this year. Playing the lead rolls of Henry and Clare are Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, neither of which I'd ever have imagined for the roles although both are sure to make this interesting and moving story sufficiently saccharine for the general movie-going public. I suppose I should just be happy that Brad and Jen were never in the runnings themselves.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Mon Jul 21 2008

Writing on the Wall

The Tribune-owned L.A. Times is cutting its books section. The last standalone books section will appear in the July 27 paper. Former L.A. Times book editors have already written a protest letter. This begs the question: How long before the Chicago Tribune books section is also history?

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jul 17 2008

A Wake for Kate

Last month I reported that Kate the Great's Book Emporium is closing on July 25. Tomorrow the bookshop is having a wake, of sorts, with live music and readings, beginning at 7pm. Plus, all remaining books now are priced from $1-3. So stop by tomorrow to bid farewell to a plucky indie bookstore that, unfortunately, didn't survive. Kate the Great's Book Emporium. 5550 N. Broadway Ave.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jul 08 2008

It's the Best Ever

The Telegraph lists its "50 Best Ever Summer Holiday Books." Picks include The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jul 08 2008

Obama Reads

Laura Miller wants you to know that Barack Obama reads serious books.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jul 08 2008

And We're Done

David Sedaris buys a tote bag.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Jul 02 2008

Begin the 'Save the Books Section' Campaign Now

Folks at the Tribune are trying to muster reader support for the Books section, possibly to protect it from the axe as the newspaper restructures. If you care about local books coverage, go drop them a line now.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Jul 02 2008

Patrick Hemingway Turns 80

Ernest Hemingway's son Patrick is turning 80 years old. NPR has an interview.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Jun 27 2008

Good-bye Trib Books Section?

Rachel Deahl at Publisher's Weekly is worried that the planned Tribune redesign could spell the death of the Books section.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Jun 27 2008

Azizi Books

Bookselling This Week profiles Azizi Books, an African-American bookstore that opened in Matteson, IL, about 30 miles south of Chicago, this past November. The store is owned by Kevin Roberts and his daughter Maia. In BTW, Maia explains, "Our overall mission was to create a place that would expose and enlighten the community to the many books that speak to the African-American experience, and bring some community spirit back into the neighborhood at the same time."

They also have a bookstore blog. Read the post from Maia about why they chose Lincoln Mall in Matteson for the store's location. This is why I love local businesses.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Jun 20 2008

Lovable Losers Essay Contest

The Lovable Losers Literary Revue is hosting an essay contest for fans of Chicago's lovable losers (a.k.a. the Cubs). Tune in this Sunday to "Memories of the Game" on WRMN, 1410-AM, scheduled to air from Noon to 5pm, to hear some of the best entries received so far. The contest continues through the summer and will conclude with at the Revue's September event with Rick Kogan. If you want to share your favorite story about life as a Cub's fan, visit the website to find out how to enter.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Jun 20 2008

Kate the Great's Book Emporium, RIP

Chicago is losing another indie bookshop. Kate the Great's is closing July 25. Right now they are having a going out of business sale. All used books are 50 percent off. Visit Kate the Great's while you still can at 5550 N. Broadway.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jun 19 2008

Two More, Then I'm Done

Okay, I lied.

But this interview with David Sedaris at the New Haven Advocate has the best-worst title ever: "He Talk Pretty."

And St. Louis really, really loves Sedaris. Check out the crowds that camped out on the street for his reading at Left Bank Books on Wednesday.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jun 19 2008

100 Years of Being Wright

Did you know 2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of author Richard Wright? Through a happy coincidence we are reading his acclaimed novel Native Son for our September book club meeting. The Times Literary Supplement recently featured a biographical article about Wright, where you can learn about his exile to France and the possible reasons why he's been neglected by critics since his death in 1960. [via]

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jun 17 2008

Watch the Video, Read the Book

How often does the Book Club have a reason to link to a video on YouTube? Not very. In fact, this is a first. But you have every reason to watch this neat video using photos and snippets from The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon. [via]

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jun 12 2008

Two Quickies

• Its recent collection of four classic Philip K. Dick novels has turned out to be the Library of America's fastest-selling title ever, even easily beating Jack Kerouac.

• The Onion A.V. Club has a review of Such a Pretty Fat, the latest book by Jen Lancaster, which begins by saying, "Chicago-based memoirist Jen Lancaster would make a shitty diet coach."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Jun 11 2008

News in Brief

Books and writers with a Chicago connection in the news:

• Eliot Asinof, author of the book Eight Men Out about the Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919, has passed away. [via]

• Chicago-born rapper Common has started The Corner Book Club for teens through his Common Ground Foundation. Currently the online book group is reading Long Way Gone, Memoirs of A Boy Soldier by Ishmaell Beah.

• Nancy Horan, the author of Loving Frank, a fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright's love affair with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, talks about how she was "concerned that those who revere Wright's work might be angry that her novel would tarnish his legacy." [via]

• What would you do if a policeman offered you any book from Ernest Hemingway's library for $200?

• Andy Austin, author of Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians and Murderers in an American Courtroom, is interviewed about her 40 years as a courtroom sketch artist for Smithsonian Magazine. [via]

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Jun 11 2008

Last David Sedaris Post....Really

The Boston Globe just joined the party with its review of When You Are Engulfed in Flames, the latest essay collection by serial memoirist David Sedaris, saying "Much the way that Celine Dion will never run out of hot air or Middle America will never lose its appetite for funnel cakes, so it seems that David Sedaris will never lose his ability to recall the most minute details of his curious North Carolina childhood."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jun 10 2008

Top 10 Books Owned by Chicagoans

...on LibraryThing.com. What does this list say about us?

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
7. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Jun 09 2008

More David Sedaris

As we wrap up our month of David Sedaris tonight, here are a few more Sedaris items in the news:

NPR talks about his new book When You Are Engulfed in Flames and has an excerpt.

• Read an interview with Sedaris at Entertainment Weekly in which he responds to criticism about his exaggeration of facts in his work.

• Sedaris also recently talked to Newsweek about his current U.S. book tour.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jun 03 2008

More Vonnegut

The Quarterly Conversation has a review of Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut in its latest issue, and notes, "Armageddon in Retrospect stands as a vantage point from which to survey Vonnegut's life's work, and his work has always been about war. Against war, to be precise; this book can be considered the devoted pacifist's final diatribe on his favorite subject."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jun 03 2008

50 Best Cult Books

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut tops the list of 50 Best Cult Books from the critics at the Telegraph.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu May 29 2008

Two Interviews with Aleksandar Hemon

Aleksandar Hemon resists labels, according to the Los Angeles Times. The writer talks to the Times about his new book, The Lazarus Project and says, "What I like about literature are the transformative possibilities."

• Powells.com also has an excellent, lengthy interview with Hemon talking about The Lazarus Project. He tells the interviewer, "Memory is always incomplete. We always add things to it. It's impossible to perfectly remember things that happen to us."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed May 28 2008

Recent Reviews, Quickly Noted

• Last week the Tribune reviewed Elizabeth Berg's new story collection, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, and declared, "You love these stories. You ride their waves. You think you're in for an afternoon of sweet distraction, but soon a certain gravity sets in. Soon you're admiring not just Berg's quick-fire prose, but her compassion and her clarity, her capacity for twining pathos into comedy, for making her readers care."

• The Independent looks at Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut and says, "In a time of war and nightmare, Vonnegut's last works remind us that we can always simply say no to the whole horrible business."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu May 15 2008

Lit Birthday

Author L. Frank Baum was born today, May 15, in 1856. We will be reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz this summer for our August meeting. For fun, check out the fabulous digitized collection of "Oziana" from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue May 06 2008

Weekend Reviews

Round-up of recent reviews of books with a local angle:

• Both The Seattle Times and the Chicago Tribune review The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon. Seattle writes that Hemon "delivers a startling finish with a poignant twist," while the Trib calls him "a majestic talent."

• The Trib also reviews some recent mystery novels by local authors.

Armageddon in Retrospect, a collection of previously unpublished work by Kurt Vonnegut, gets the review treatment in The New York Times Sunday Book Review.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon May 05 2008

New Short Fiction Online

Local author Keir Graff, who is also a senior editor at Booklist Online, has a new short story in the May issue of Booklist. The publication, which has been around for more than 100 years, reviews new books, but this is the first time it has published a story. "Reading is My Business" is described by the author as "a hard-boiled metafiction about book reviewing—with a very local angle," and you can read the complete text online.

Find out more about the "story behind the story" at Graff's Booklist blog.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu May 01 2008

Free Comics

Yes, Free Comic Book Day is here again. Stop by participating stores this Saturday, May 3, to get your fee comic book. Use the official store locater to find a retailer near you.

But, there are two great reasons to make Chicago Comics your stop for Free Comic Book Day on Saturday: local comics artist Jeffrey Brown and former Disney animator Christian Slade will be in-store signing books and comics from noon to 4pm.

Chicago Comics is located at 3244 N. Clark St. Call them at 773-528-1983 or visit the website for more info.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Apr 30 2008

Society of Midland Authors Award Winners

The Society of Midland Authors recently announced the winners of its annual awards. SMA is open "to authors who live in, were born in, or have strong ties to" states throughout the Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. This year's award winners and runners-up include several writers from the Chicagoland area, including Judith Testa, who won in the biography category for her book Sal Maglie: Baseball's Demon Barber, and Tony Romano, a finalist in the adult fiction category for his novel When the World Was Young.

The awards banquet will be held on Tuesday, May 13, at the Hotel InterContinental. It is open to the public. Tickets are $60. You can find out more on the website.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Apr 30 2008

Making Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury's classic novel Dandelion Wine was our September 2005 book club selection. Now you can make your own dandelion wine thanks to WikiHow. According to the tutorial's author, April and May are the best months for harvesting dandelions. This depends, however, on whether you are able to find a lawn or field in the Chicagoland area that still supports dandelions. Most spots have been thoroughly poisoned with pesticides and weedkiller.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Apr 29 2008

A New Look at the 1968 Democratic Convention

Battleground Chicago by Frank Kusch has been republished by the University of Chicago Press to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1968 Democratic Convention. Find out more about the book at the UofC Press website, and even read an excerpt.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Apr 29 2008

Rereading Vonnegut

Benjamin Kunkel is rereading Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut and writes about it for the Guardian, calling the book "a funny and despairing vision of the last judgment done in comic-book style."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Apr 28 2008

The End of The Long Goodbye

Chicago's Outfit Collective has been blogging about Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye all month, ever since the Chicago Public Library picked the book as the spring 2008 "One Book, One Chicago" selection. This weekend Barbara D’Amato wrapped up the series of posts with an examination of Chandler's writing and revision process.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Apr 28 2008

Speaking of Hemon...

The Washington Post has an early review of The Lazarus Project, and the reviewer calls the structure of the novel "ingenious."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Apr 17 2008

Best Lines in Literature

American Book Review compiled a list of the 100 best first lines from novels. The opening lines from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Herzog by Saul Bellow, recent book club selection Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, plus many more writers with a local connection made the list.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (1)

News Thu Apr 17 2008

Recent Stories

Chicago-related lit news and reviews from around the web:

• The Chicago Tribune reviews More Than a Dream: The Cristo Rey Story: How One School's Vision Is Changing the World by G.R. Kearney, about Chicago's Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, and says "what is most notable about the book is its honest willingness to leave all the warts on the story."

• Jane Dailey also looks at Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
by Sudhir Venkatesh in the Trib
, and believes Venkatesh "romanticizes the drug world."

• "Mr. Wonderful" by Daniel Clowes, which was serialized in the New York Times, has been nominated for an Eisner Award in the "Best Short Story" category. Chris Ware is also nominated for no less than three awards for Acme Novelty Library #18, Best American Comics 2007 and Sundays with Walt and Skeezix.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Apr 10 2008

100 Best Books?

The Telegraph claims to have designed the perfect library, consisting of just 110 books. Titles are broken down by genre, from classics to literary fiction to sci-fi and children's books. A few writers with local connections made the list, including Ernest Hemingway, Philip Roth and past book club selection Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Check out the full list here.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Apr 09 2008

Jeffrey Eugenides in the New Yorker

Perfectly coinciding with our reading Middlesex this month, Jeffrey Eugenides has a new story in a recent issue of the New Yorker. And, the story is set in Chicago. I expect everyone to be prepared to discuss it on Monday, in addition to Middlesex.

Just kidding.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Apr 08 2008

Summer Residency at Poetry Center of Chicago

The Poetry Center of Chicago is accepting applications for its summer residency program. According to the Center's guidelines, one poet will be awarded a month-long poetry residency with housing. This residency is open to poets who have published no more than one book of poetry, not including self-published work. In addition to housing, the poet will receive a $1,000 stipend. The poet is responsible for his/her own travel and meal expenses. The submission deadline is Friday, May 9, 2008. You can download the application from the Poetry Center website here.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Apr 08 2008

Recent News

Time to close a few bookmarks. Here is some recent book news and reviews with a Chicago connection from around the web:

• The Chicago Tribune reviews Easy Innocence, a new mystery by local author Libby Fischer Hellman.

• The Denver Post reviews Windy City, the new political novel by Scott Simon, and calls it "nothing less than a passionate love letter to Chicago and its political machine."

Sara Paretsky talks to the Independent about everything from obesity to embryo research to Barack Obama as Bleeding Kansas is published in the UK.

• Tony D'Souza writes a long essay about Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee for the NBCC blog, in which he argues that the novel is "the definitive work on South Africa’s present state."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Apr 08 2008

New Ink Topic: E-Books

I've been MIA the last few weeks, mostly laid up in bed with a nasty flu and feeling very sorry for myself. But that's in the past, and we're overdue for a new question in Ink.

Thanks to everyone who responded to the last question about donating books. I was not aware of the community boxes someone mentioned, and I wholeheartedly endorse donating to the Newberry Library Book Fair, although in my personal experience, the book fair has a tendency to expand my book inventory more than it lessens it.

But this time I want to hear about e-books and e-book readers. Amazon.com claims it cannot keep up with demand for its Kindle e-book device, yet I don't know anyone who owns one. Do you? Do you read e-books or own an e-book reader? Why or why not? Leave your comments above in Ink.

- Alice Maggio

News Fri Mar 14 2008

Recent Stories

• Joshua Ferris is adapting his critically acclaimed novel Then We Came to the End for HBO.

• Scott Simon has written a new novel titled Windy City: A Novel of Politics. You earn no points for correctly guessing the story takes place in Chicago. The Washington Post has a review and says the book, "for all its emphasis on the sausage-factory venality of big-city politics, seems intended mainly as a big, sloppy valentine to the cultural jambalaya that is 21st-century Chicago." Awww. NPR also recently talked to Simon about the novel, and not only can you listen to the interview online, but you can also read the first chapter of Windy City.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Mar 14 2008

Other Local Book Clubs

Don't like the Gapers Block Book Club? Just want to try something new? Centerstage has a round-up of a few other local book clubs. For even more options, try Reader's Circle, an online database of book groups around the world, all contributed by users. Hey, we're listed there, although, ahem, I might need to update our entry.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Mar 06 2008

Reviews, Reviews and More Reviews

• The Boston Globe has a review of Bleeding Kansas, the latest novel by Sara Paretsky, saying it "may not be a conventional mystery, but it is a suspenseful page-turner nonetheless."

• Both the Boston Globe and the Independent review Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh. The Globe says Venkatesh's account of his infiltration of Chicago's Black Kings "is best read as a memoir and not as a political manifesto or a sociological study," while the Independent gushes that "Venkatesh has written a work whose intellectual depth and immense humanity have few parallels in social science."

• Bookslut reviews Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer in its March issue, and explains that the novel is "a very different sort of book from Langer's earlier efforts: less personal, more full of spectacle, but ultimately one of the most enjoyable stories in recent memory."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Mar 04 2008

Meet the New Chicago Public Library

What a difference a day makes. The Chicago Public Library has unveiled a radical web makeover. The shiny new website also includes a new online catalog that is faster, prettier and more user-friendly than the old, clunky search. And, finally, library users can place holds on materials through the online catalog. See something you want? Just click "Place on Hold" and enter your library account information, and the item can be sent to your nearest branch library for pickup. Awesome—and long overdue. Congratulations, CPL!

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Mar 03 2008

Dwight Okita - The Next Breakthrough Novelist

Local author and playwright Dwight Okita is one of ten finalists for Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award with his novel The Prospect of My Arrival. Set in Chicago in 2025, the novel follows the consciousness of a fetus that has been inserted into the body of a 30-year-old man who must now decide whether or not to be born. You can read excerpts of this book and the work of the other nine finalists on the Amazon page and then vote for your favorite. The winner gets a publishing contract with Penguin to market and publish their work. That's a pretty sweet prize and it's kind of nice that the authors don't have to move into one house together and have their petty squabbles videotaped only to be voted out one at a time week by week. Don't get any ideas, Bravo. (Thanks for sending us the info, Mark!)

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Fri Feb 29 2008

New Mini-Books

Need a quick read? Featherproof has two new mini-books for you to choose from: Women/Girls by Amelia Gray and In the Dream, by Jay Ponteri. Print, fold, staple and you're on your way.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Wed Feb 27 2008

The Award for Whitest Suit Goes To...

...Tom Wolfe. Also going to Tom Wolfe is this year's Chicago Public Library Carl Sandburg Award, although the award won't actually be given until October, during the Chicago Book Festival. I wonder what Wolfe will wear to the ceremony.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Sat Feb 23 2008

Bet on Books, Help Out Kids

The Morning News starts its fourth annual Tournament of Books on March 7, and Coudal Partners has opened the betting window. Lay $10 on the line for whichever book you think has what it takes to win it all, and you could be one of ten bettors to win a "huge prize package" (contents to be named later, but judging from past Coudal contests, it'll be worth it).

All the proceeds will go to First Book, "a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books." So you're not only having a little fun, but you're also helping teach kids to read. Everybody wins!

- Andrew Huff | Comments (0)

News Wed Feb 20 2008

How Do You Hide That in Your Backpack?

I understand the temptation to steal books from the library (not that I would do it or am advocating it, but I do understand a book’s inherent appeal), but a sculpture outside the library? The Sun-Times reports that the Umanita sculpture adorning the Newberry Library went missing over the weekend. The stainless steel piece, created by Chicago artist Virginio Ferrari, is six feet tall, weighs over 150 pounds and was attached to its marble base with a steel bolt - whoever wanted it clearly went through a lot of trouble to take it. With the sculpture valued at $65,000-$70,000, it’s unlikely the library would have the funds for a replacement, so don’t make it worse by forcing them to replace your stolen books, too.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Tue Feb 19 2008

Recent Stories

• As reported on the main page, the Sun-Times has published an excerpt of James Laski's memoir My Fall From Grace: City Hall to Prison Walls. The book recalls Laski's involvement in the hired truck scandal and was written during his time in prison.

Mark Lawson compares the Oscar-nominated movie There Will Be Blood with Oil!, the Upton Sinclair novel on which it is based (Sinclair is also the author of The Jungle).

• Romance, suspense, young adult and children's book author Phyllis Whitney passed away last week. She was the children's book editor for the Chicago Sun, a predecessor of the Sun-Times and penned 76 books. Her obituary can be found in the Sun-Times and the Guardian has a nice profile of the author and her work as well.

• The University of Chicago blog gives a brief review of Hazel Rowley's new biography of Richard Wright, titled Richard Wright: The Life and Times. Join us in September when we read and discuss Native Son, one of Wright's most famous works.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Mon Feb 18 2008

Profiling Venkatesh

The Guardian profiles the University of Chicago's Sudhir Venkatesh, whose memoir Gang Leader for a Day details his experience as a graduate student researching gangs in the Robert Taylor Homes. Venkatesh reveals why he's the "black sheep of [his] discipline," describes his research method of "hanging out," and talks about why he feels guilt but not regret.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Thu Feb 14 2008

The Story of Love

In the Guardian, Jeffrey Eugenides traces the origin of the love story, all the way from ancient poetry of Catullus to the stories of Alice Munro, James Joyce and Vladimir Nabokov. After a year of reading and researching love stories for his collection My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead, which takes its title from one of Catullus's poems, Eugenides discovered that love itself is not necessarily the subject of a good love story:

"The happy marriage, the requited love, the desire that never dims - these are lucky eventualities, but they aren't love stories. Love stories depend on disappointment, on unequal births and feuding families, on matrimonial boredom and at least one cold heart. Love stories, nearly without exception, give love a bad name."

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Tue Feb 12 2008

It's Like a Heat Wave

Our August 2005 Selection Heat Wave is coming to the stage, thanks to local playwright Steven Simoncic, Live Bait Theater and Pegasus Players. Chicago Magazine talks to both Simoncic and author Eric Klinenberg about the book's adaptation and whether a social disaster in 1995 is still relevant today. (Check out Slowdown for info on catching one of the preview shows.)

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Tue Feb 12 2008

Recent Stories

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris has just been published in the UK, and the Independent has a review.

• In the Washington Post Michael Dirda reviews My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead, edited by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Centerstage talks to Todd Dills about The2ndHand.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Feb 12 2008

Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships

Five Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships in the amount of  $15,000 will be awarded to young poets through a national competition sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry. Established in 1989 by the Indianapolis philanthropist Ruth Lilly, the fellowships are intended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry. Applicants must be us citizens between the age of twenty-one and thirty-one as of  March 31, 2008.

Visit the website for complete entry details.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Feb 11 2008

And the Award Goes to...

Congratulations to Barack Obama who picked up his second Grammy Award last night for the spoken word album of The Audactiy of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. Obama's first win came in 2005 for the spoken word album of his memoir, Dreams From My Father, the Book Club's October 2007 selection.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Fri Feb 08 2008

More Than Worms

The University of Illinois's Rare Book & Manuscript library is dealing with a problem far worse than book worms -- mold infestation has forced it to close for several months. The Sun-Times reports that approximately 15,000 books may be affected in this collection, which includes papers from Carl Sandburg and pages from the Gutenberg Bible. The collection is valued at more than $1 billion. Thankfully, officials say the damage does not appear to be irreparable nor does the problem pose a health risk. The library is expected to close on February 25 and reopen on May 5.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Thu Feb 07 2008

Recent Stories

• The Onion A.V. Club reviews Diary of a Bad Year.

• The Chicago Tribune reviews Adam Langer's new book, Ellington Boulevard, and declares the novel "proves that this gifted satirist and storyteller can move with ease from city to city and character to character."

• Bookslut reviews You Must Be This Happy to Enter, a new collection of stories by Elizabeth Crane.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Feb 01 2008

Recent Stories

Your occasional round-up of Chicago-related lit news from around the web:

Alex Kotlowitz debates Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh over at Slate, asking: "What do we, as writers, owe our subjects?"

• The Sun-Times books blog looks at My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead, the collection of love stories edited by upcoming book club author Jeffrey Eugenides.

• The 10th Annual Love is Murder Conference, dedicated to writers, publishers and readers of mystery and crime fiction, is going on this weekend at the Rosemont Wyndham O'Hare in Rosemont. Visit the website for all the details.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Feb 01 2008

Friday Fun: Digitized Book of the Week

The Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign has a blog showcasing digitized books from the library's collection. Recent features on Digitized Book of the Week include the Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey: Czech (1878-1924) and "Bird Observations near Chicago" by Ellen Drummond Farwell, published in 1919. Each post includes sample scans from the book, plus links to the entire digitized book in .pdf or virtual flip book form. [via]

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jan 29 2008

Recent Stories

Your occasional round-up of Chicago-related lit news from around the web:

NPR talks to Michael Harvey, author of The Chicago Way.

• Sara Paretsky has been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award for her memoir Writing in an Age of Silence. The NBCC blog profiles the book and has an interview with Paretsky.

• The Wall Street Journal looks at the trend of loyal customers pitching in to save their local bookstores, and Chicago's Brent Books and Cards and Women & Children First both get mentions.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Jan 24 2008

Recent Stories

Your occasional round-up of recent Chicago-related lit news from around the web:

• The Chicago Tribune looks at A Father's Law, the recently published, unfinished novel by Richard Wright.

The Guardian talks to Studs Terkel about his life and his memoir Touch and Go. When Gary Younge arrives at Terkel's home in Chicago, Terkel asks the British journalist, "Why was [Tony Blair] such a house boy for Bush?"

• Carol Anshaw, herself a local author, reviews Adam Langer's new novel Ellington Boulevard: A Novel in A-Flat for the L.A. Times.

• Publisher's Weekly alerts us to a new book by Richard Roeper titled Debunked! Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Evil Plots of the 21st Century. Oh, please let it be true. It is scheduled to be published by Chicago Review Press in June.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Jan 16 2008

Recent Stories

Another round-up of recent Chicago-lit related stories from around the web:

• Jeffrey Eugenides talks to the London Telegraph about the anthology of short stories he edited, My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead. Proceeds from the book are being donated to 826Chicago. The book club will be reading his book Middlesex for our April meeting.

• Daniel Clowes, Aleksandar Hemon, George Saunders and Chris Ware have all contributed stories to The Book of Other People, an anthology edited by Zadie Smith.

• Speaking of Daniel Clowes, he was also recently interviewed for the Onion A.V. Club, talking about his series for the New York Times, Mr. Wonderful.

• After finishing Diary of a Bad Year by Coetzee, reviewers moved on to Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky. Read reviews of Kansas at the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and Washington Post.

• NPR has a story about Richard Wright's daughter, who is publishing her father's unfinished novel, Father's Law. The book club will be reading his book Native Son this year for our September meeting.

• Last, but certainly not least, registration is now open for winter and spring seminars at the Newberry Library. Seminars of interest to book club members include "From Oz to Wicked: The Wonderful World of L. Frank Baum," "At Home with Hemingway," "Richard J. Daley: Life and Times, Myths and Realities" and "The White City: Art and Culture at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Jan 11 2008

Diary of a Bad Year Review Round-Up

Everyone has been reading J.M. Coetzee's latest book, Diary of a Bad Year. Read reviews from The Boston Globe, Denver Post, New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, New York Review of Books and San Francisco Chronicle.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (1)

News Fri Jan 11 2008

Captain O.G. Readmore Says 'Reading's where it's at'

Elizabeth Berg resolves to read more this year, and inspires Libby Hellman to do the same.

* C'mon, I know I'm not the only one who remembers the Captain.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Jan 01 2008

Best Books

This week in Ink I'm asking a very typical end-of-the-year question: What is your pick for best book of 2007? This could be a book published in 2007, or maybe just the best book you read this past year. Let us know above in Ink.

- Alice Maggio

News Wed Dec 26 2007

Over 100 Years Later, The Titles Have Barely Changed

While looking for something else, I found this fascinating catalogue of books from 1903 from a Chicago publisher, Frederick J. Drake & Company. It's slightly re-assuring to know that back then they also sold books on science experiments that could be done at home or how to make money in the stock market. Though I doubt a book about "renowned Dutch comedians" would still sell a lot of copies.

- Brian Sobolak

News Wed Dec 19 2007

Last Chance Gift Guide

Have you been leaving your Christmas shopping until the last minute? Books make great gifts and local area booksellers and publishers have got you covered.

New Books
Barbara's Bookstore has some special holiday discounts and gift suggestions.

The Book Cellar staff loves The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and the store will be open until 1pm on December 24 for you real last-minute types.

Graham Cracker Comics has several locations around Chicago, but the Naperville store earns a special mention for its "No Sleep 'Til Xmas" event. The store will be open for 32 hours straight, from 11am Dec. 23 to 7pm Dec. 24, and will include food, Nintendo Wii and other gaming events. As the website says, "Tired of spending the holidays with your family? God knows we are. So why not squeeze in a few hours hanging out at your favorite comic shop?" Brilliant.

Quimby's is promoting its limited-edition tote bags, perfect, as the staff claims, for the "nerd that's impossible to shop for during the holidays."

The Seminary Co-op Bookstores announce they have "lots of new titles for those hard-to-shop-for readers in your life." Maybe you know someone who would love to receive The Origins of Reasonable Doubt: Theological Roots of the Criminal Trial by James Q. Whitman or History in a Glass: Sixty Years of Wine Writing from Gourmet by Ruth Reichl, both stocked at the Co-op right now.

Staff favorites at Unabridged Bookstore in Lakeview include Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford and The Laments by George Hagen.

And, Women & Children First not only have lots of great new releases, but the store also has a wide variety of t-shirts and other items in its Cafe Press store.

Used Books
If anyone on your list might appreciate a special used, rare or out-of-print title, Bookworks, Myopic Books, Selected Works and Powell's are just a few of my favorite places.

Local Publishers
For the Chicago history buff, Lake Claremont Press has lots of great titles, including its latest, Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theatre to Svengoolie by Ted Okuda And Mark Yurkiw.

The University of Chicago Press has dozens of titles listed in its special holiday gift guide. From The Colorful Apocalypse: Journeys in Outsider Art by Greg Bottoms to Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Mariana Gosnell, there is something for everyone from the U of C Press.

- Alice Maggio

News Wed Dec 19 2007

Recent Stories

Your round-up of recent Chicago related lit news from around the web:

Ana Castillo is interviewed in Color Lines, and she talks about her most recent novel, The Guardians. (read the GB Book Club review of The Guardians here)

• The Chicago Tribune looks at a new book about the Garfield Park Conservatory titled Inspired by Nature: The Garfield Park Conservatory and Chicago's West Side, and reviews Person of Interest by Theresa Schwegel, calling it "an indisputable crime fiction tour de force."

• In the New York Times Sunday Book Review Rachel Donadio wonders why J.M. Coetzee left South Africa and asks, "Were his 2002 move and his taking of Australian citizenship last year a betrayal of his homeland, or a rejoinder to a country whose new government had denounced one of his most important novels as racist?"

- Alice Maggio

News Fri Dec 14 2007

When Stock Photography Attacks

Sir, have we met somewhere before? You look familiar. Still having trouble with that coat, I see.

nowhereman.jpg Nowhere Man by Aleksandar Hemon




vs.




roadwithin.jpg The Road Within: True Stories of Transformation and the Soul edited by Sean O'Reilly







- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Dec 13 2007

Recent Stories

More local lit-related news from around the web:

• The Rockford Public Library is moving into a space recently vacated by a Barnes & Noble. The former bookstore space is nearly triple the size of the current Northeast library branch.

• Bill Daley at the Trib has some cookbook recommendations for your holiday gift-giving.

• Check out Fifth Wednesday Journal, a new biannual print literary journal based in Lisle, IL.

E.L. Doctorow reviews Studs Terkel's memoir, Touch and Go, and says, "The memoir is a literary genre given to narcissistic indulgence, but you will find nothing of the sort here."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Dec 07 2007

Obama Nominated for Grammy

Nominations for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards have been announced, and Barack Obama tops the list in the spoken word category for his recording of The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream. In 2006 Obama won the Grammy for spoken word for the recording of his memoir Dreams from My Father, which we recently read for the GB Book Club. Obama's fellow nominees this year include Maya Angelou, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Alan Alda.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Dec 05 2007

Tribune to Sun-Times: Who's Bragging Now?

Or, "Reason Number 182 Why Newspapers Are Hemorrhaging Readers"

Critical Mass, the blog of the National Book Critics Circle, reports that the Chicago Sun-Times is cutting its Books section in half. This comes just a few months after the Trib moved its own Books section from Sundays to Saturdays, thus ensuring that it will never be read. After the move, Sun-Times began to crow about having "the only books section on Sunday." Maybe the new tagline should read, "now 50 percent less literate!" Way to go, Chicago papers.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Dec 05 2007

Recent Stories

I've been dealing with a wicked cold and nursing a sick cat, so I'm behind on my links once again. But here a just a few Chicago-lit related stories you may have missed recently:

• The Chicago Sun-Times profiles local author Keir Graff and talks about his new thriller, My Fellow Americans.

• Read an interview with cartoonist Anders Nilsen and view pages from his sketchbooks.

• Speaking of cartoonists, yes, "Mr. Wonderful" by Daniel Clowes is continuing in the New York Times. We are now up to chapter 12.

• The Denver Post reviews the lastest novel by Robert Hellenga, The Italian Lover, and says it "captures a moment in time that is so real you can smell the bus fumes." You can also read an excerpt from the book.

• Want another book excerpt? The LA Times has the introduction from Finding Iris Chang by Paula Kamen.

• At the New York Review of Books, Sarah Kerr reviews Exit Ghost by Philip Roth.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Nov 27 2007

People Are Still Talking About The Future of Books

The NPR show "On The Media" usually focuses on how the news is reported (or not reported, if appropriate). This past week's episode switched to a different medium: books. In addition to explaining the Kindle, it talked about how much of a difference Oprah and Amazon can make, and whether or not people are reading less as the recent NEA study discussed. Worth a listen.

- Brian Sobolak

News Tue Nov 20 2007

Recent Stories

I am behind on posting, but here some recent Chicago-lit related stories from around the web:


- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Nov 09 2007

Coetzee News

The Critical Mass blog has two offerings from this week related to our current book club author. First, find out which five books J.M. Coetzee believes every book reviewer should own. Then, read a review of Inner Workings, a new collection of essays of Coetzee's work from the New York Review of Books.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Fri Nov 09 2007

Recent Stories

This has been one of those weeks, but I would like to close some tabs and catch up with some recent Chicago-related lit news from around the web:

- Alice Maggio

Reviews Tue Oct 30 2007

Book Review Cage Match

The Chicago Tribune recently featured two reviews of works by local writers. Donna Seaman, the editor of Booklist, reviewed Hiding Out by Jonathan Messinger. And, Dick Adler reviewed the Chicago Blues anthology edited by Libby Fischer Hellmann.

But wait, our own Veronica Bond reviewed both books for the GB Book Club blog right here. Re-read her reviews of Hiding Out and Chicago Blues.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Oct 30 2007

Recent Stories

• From the Department of "What the Hell?" comes word that not only did Dave Eggers write the screenplay for the forthcoming Where the Wild Things Are film, based on the classic children's book by Maurice Sendak, but he is also writing an adult novel based on the story. Publisher Dan Halpern from ECCO thinks "it's going to be his biggest book. I think it's going to be huge." Um, famous last words?

Touch and Go, the long-awaited memoir by Studs Terkel is now in stores, and the LA Times has a review.

• Philip Roth is profiled and his new book, Exit Ghost, is reviewed at the Christian Science Monitor and the Denver Post.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Oct 30 2007

Go Read

Time Out Chicago has three new scary short stories by some cool local writers, just in time for Halloween. Read "A Brief Moment of Terror at MLK Junior High School" by Joe Meno, "Ghost Stations" by Keir Graff, and "Vaara in the Woods" by Patrick Somerville.

• "Mr. Wonderful" by Daniel Clowes continues in the New York Times.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Oct 09 2007

Recent Stories

Recent Chicago-related book news from around the web:

• The Boston Globe reviews The Guardians by Ana Castillo, which I reviewed here last month.

Hey, did you know Philip Roth attended the University of Chicago? That makes him fair game for the GB Book Club. Let the stories begin:

• Read reviews of his latest book, Exit Ghost, at the Independent, the New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

• The Chronicle also has an interview with Roth, which includes this snippet:

Roth realizes that as he ages, he is one of the relative few who have this kind of time for reading. "The revolution that began with the movie screen, and the TV screen, which led to the decline of the literary culture, has just been accelerated by the new technological revolution," he says. "People are just not interested in reading a book two or three hours a night."

• You're still reading "Mr. Wonderful" by Daniel Clowes in the New York Times, right? Chapter four is now available for downloading.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Oct 01 2007

Recent News

Chicago-lit related stories from around the web:

• Read reviews for Robert Hellenga's new book, The Italian Lover, at both the Chicago Tribune and the Boston Globe.

• Publisher's Weekly talks to Stuart Dybek about his "winning week" last week.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Wed Sep 26 2007

Fantagraphics on the Clowes Controversy

Fantagraphics, the publisher of the Eightball series by Daniel Clowes, has a few thoughts about the Connecticut English teacher who resigned after parents objected to his giving a copy of Eightball #22 to a freshman student. The commentary includes:

"Some are arguing that Eightball was a far too mature choice for a teacher to give a 13-year-old girl and clearly grounds for dismissal. Perhaps in some parts of the country, yes, but consider this school's approved summer reading list, which includes authors like Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Augustyn Burroughs, Sylvia Plath, Graham Greene, and many more. In light of this rather progressive list, it's hard to believe that Eightball crosses any lines that any number of other titles from the approved list absolutely obliterate."

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Mon Sep 24 2007

Recent Stories

Chicago lit news from around the web:

Keir Graff interviews Jonathan Messinger about his book, Hiding Out, and juggling roles as a writer, editor and publisher.

ELevated Verse has returned to CTA platforms around the city. The project, which is in its second year, features poetry written by Chicago students enrolled in the Poetry Center of Chicago's Hands on Stanzas program.

Mr. Wonderful by Daniel Clowes continues in the New York Times Magazine.Related: An English teacher in Guilford, Conn. resigned after giving a freshman student a copy of Clowes' Eightball #22, and her parents freaked.

• Publisher's Weekly has a short interview with Studs Terkel.

• The San Francisco Chronicle reviews The Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Thu Sep 20 2007

Crime Fiction History

Cultural Chicago has a nice little piece detailing a short history of chicago crime fiction, starting from the genre's birth in England to the current crop of local writers who carry on the tradition.

- Veronica Bond | Comments (0)

News Wed Sep 19 2007

Happy Birthday, Mike Royko

Thanks to the Chicago Blog for reminding us that Mike Royko would have turned 75 today. You can read some of his past columns online as reprinted in One More Time and For the Love of Mike, both from the University of Chicago Press. Of course, we read his classic book, Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago, for our January 2007 book club selection.

- Alice Maggio | Comments (0)

News Tue Sep 18 2007

Recent Stories

You can call this the "all comics/graphic novels" news update:

• Anders Nilsen has been getting lots of press lately. A couple weeks ago he was the cover story on the Chicago Reader (that article made me cry), and that same weekend he was profiled in the Tribune. Now Metabunker has an in-depth interview with the artist/cartoonist.

The Best American Comics 2007 will be hitting bookshelves next month. This year's edition was edited by Chris Ware, and you can