For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Jane Smiley’s newest novel A Dangerous Business begins in the 1850s. The Gold Rush is in full swing as the American Civil War begins bubbling to the surface of society. Eliza literally makes a name for herself—changing her last name from Cargill to Ripple—by seeking employment at a brothel in Monterey, California after the … Read more
[ad_1] Grotesque monsters often serve as villains in children’s fairy tales. The monsters in Bora Chung’s story collection, Cursed Bunny, translated by Anton Hur, are sometimes less obvious, but not less terrifying. The stories defy conventional categorization. They range from horror to fantasy to slightly supernatural, with the individual stories varying in how they integrate … Read more
[ad_1] On December 8, 2022, we came together for the 2022 CHIRBy Awards, co-presented by StoryStudio Chicago! Now in its seventh year, the CHIRBy Awards is our annual celebration of the Chicago literary community where we honor the best Chicago-focused fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and short essays. Congratulations to this year’s winners and to all of … Read more
[ad_1] In her debut novel, Things We Found When the Water Went Down, Tegan Nia Swanson asks a lot of her readers. The initial pages of the book offer a list of characters and a map, and footnotes accompany the reader throughout, but it is nevertheless easy to become disoriented in this layered, complex story … Read more
[ad_1] Satire often depends on specific moments in time and place. The challenge of writing great satire is in transcending those limits. For instance, Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal spoke to a time and place, anchored to a historic period, but rendered irrelevant by Ireland’s economic rise and the period of the Celtic Tiger. Or … Read more
[ad_1] Author of the Arab American Book Award-winning When We Were Arabs, Massoud Hayoun has two novels out this year: Building 46, which was released in May, and Last Night in Brighton, which will be released this week. Together, these two make up the Ghorba Ghost Story Series, which is a curious categorization for books … Read more
[ad_1] Can you believe the holiday season is already here? While December is often a time to look forward to the New Year, the publishing industry never stops. If you’re looking for a book to accompany you on your winter travels or need to sprint to complete your reading goals, there are plenty of exciting … Read more
[ad_1] What does Dickens (Victorian Englishman, man of letters, and social reformer) have in common with Prince (Midwesterner, composer, and multi-instrumentalist)? On the face of it, not much. This unexpected pairing is, however, the basis for Nick Hornby’s new book Dickens and Prince, which aims to show how each artist was a “particular kind of … Read more
[ad_1] In her new collection of short stories, Almost Deadly, Almost Good: Sins and Virtues, Alice Kaltman crafts a wicked and ribald catechism from the vices and redemptions of contemporary America and its litany of temptations. Neither morality tale nor fable, the collection’s fourteen stories forge hardened hearts and tempered spirits in those crucibles of … Read more
[ad_1] The world of Joma West’s debut novel, Face, is one where people can design an unborn baby that someone else delivers. Physical touch has been rendered obsolete. Individuals called menials are “programmed” to serve other people without question. Romantic relationships have evolved into transactional partnerships between people based on personal gain. What’s most compelling … Read more