For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Reading Megan Stielstra is like having a cool older sister telling you it’ll be okay. She doesn’t sugarcoat the truth; she acknowledges things are hard. That honesty makes you trust her. Plus, she’s smart and makes you laugh—it’s no wonder we walk away from reading her books feeling better. My first introduction to Stielstra’s … Read more
[ad_1] Scientists are still studying exactly how our nerves’ collective activities transcribe our experiences into memories and, while a noble study, a certain question persists: isn’t memory so intoxicating because it’s so elusive? Memory’s pliability makes it a rich playing ground in fiction; it can manipulate and subvert what characters think they know and is … Read more
[ad_1] When Chicago Review of Books launched our online literary magazine, Arcturus, our initial call was for work oriented in place. But the theme seemed a difficult specificity, so we dropped the focus on place-based writing. Leah Hampton’s new story collection, F*ckface, nails the Appalachian region with such precision and range it could be held … Read more
[ad_1] Julia Alvarez is one of our most prolific writers—her work spanning multiple genres and audiences. She has published three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, 11 books for children and young adults, and now seven literary novels. Her latest, Afterlife, is her first adult novel in nearly 15 years. Fans of Alvarez know … Read more
[ad_1] “What’s beautiful about the essay is you can resist the impulse to make the categories clean. You can make it muddy and fluid,” Jordan Kisner said in an interview with Rachel Z. Arndt from Publishers Weekly. And the fluidity of Kisner’s essays in her debut book, Thin Places, is arguably the most striking thing … Read more
[ad_1] The story of Chicago’s South Side often falls within two narratives — stereotypes of violence and crime, and brilliant, extraordinary individuals (like the Obamas) who find their way out. But this dichotomy is narrow and silences the experiences of many South Side residents. In reality, most don’t fall into these experiences, but somewhere in … Read more