A Conversation with Beth Uznis Johnson – Chicago Review of Books

A Conversation with Beth Uznis Johnson – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] You never can tell where life will take you. When I met Beth Uznis Johnson at an MFA alumni event for Queens University of Charlotte, she lived in Michigan, and I lived in Chicago. Who’d have guessed that a decade later, she’d live a few blocks from me, and we’d meet for Monday writing … Read more

The Tragedy of Fatphobia in Kate Manne’s “Unshrinking” – Chicago Review of Books

The Tragedy of Fatphobia in Kate Manne’s “Unshrinking” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] During the launch of her first book, Down Girl, a popular work about sexism and misogyny, Kate Manne was doing what she could to avoid appearing in public. She turned down a book tour and in-person interviews, and supplied media outlets with her own photographs. Manne was self-conscious of her body’s size, and didn’t … Read more

Also, the Cat | Tor.com

Also, the Cat | Tor.com

[ad_1] Even death is no match for a trio of elderly, stubborn, ever-sparring sisters, who refuse to rest in peace while their grudges live on…   Rosalee died, aged seventy-six. Her oldest sister, Irene (seventy-eight), blamed their middle sister, Viola (seventy-seven), for sending Rosie out front to check the mail when she knew Rosie’s inner … Read more

Bonnie Jo Campbell on Her Newest Novel, “The Waters” – Chicago Review of Books

Bonnie Jo Campbell on Her Newest Novel, “The Waters” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell’s new novel, The Waters,  highlights the world of the Zooks—four generations of women led by matriarch and herbalist Hermine—as they claim their place in the male-dominated world of rural Whiteheart, Michigan. From their cabin on an island in the swamp, also called The Waters, Hermine “Herself,” with … Read more

A Brutal History Reimagined in “You Dreamed of Empires” – Chicago Review of Books

A Brutal History Reimagined in “You Dreamed of Empires” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] When the Mexica emperor Moctezuma sent his emissaries to report on the Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés in 1519, neither side understood what the other was saying. It was only through a chain of translations between a Franciscan friar named Aguilar who spoke some Mayan and a young Nahuatl woman given to Cortés as … Read more

An interview with İnci Atrek, Author of Holiday Country – Chicago Review of Books

An interview with İnci Atrek, Author of Holiday Country – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] First thing, let me get something out of the way: I’ve known İnci Atrek, author of Holiday Country, for a long time. We went to Wellesley College together and both took an especially memorable travel writing class our senior year. I saw the earliest glimmers of Holiday Country in the personal essays Atrek shared … Read more

A Study of the Complex Humanity Behind True Crime in Kate Brody’s Novel “Rabbit Hole” – Chicago Review of Books

A Study of the Complex Humanity Behind True Crime in Kate Brody’s Novel “Rabbit Hole” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] We live in a golden age of the armchair detective, a person who aims to help solve a real-life mystery without the official qualifications for such work. Global fascination with true crime has led to an explosion of documentaries, websites, online forums, and more; a 2023 Pew Research Center study1 found that true crime … Read more

The Most Anticipated Chicago Books of 2024, Part I – Chicago Review of Books

The Most Anticipated Chicago Books of 2024, Part I – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] It’s probably an impossible task to chronicle every book coming out from writers in a city of nearly three million people, but here we are. This is the second year of what has become my favorite and most daunting annual project, and here I am again worried that I may have missed something. But … Read more