For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Six years ago, as I wrote the first lines of my novel What’s Not Mine, fentanyl was just starting to hit the news. I never set out to write about addiction, though the toll taken by drugs and alcohol had been in my family for a long time. It shook me that the existing … Read more
[ad_1] April showers are in the forecast here in Chicago, but thankfully with the arrival of spring comes a downpour of new book releases! This month is a celebration of lyricism in all forms, from masterful poetry collections and insightful memoirs to fiction that prods at the connections we make with one another. There’s something … Read more
[ad_1] James—the latest novel from the prodigious (and finally widely-read) Percival Everett—is many things: a relentless code-switching satire, a meditation on the constructedness of racial identity, a love letter to the written word, and, yes, I suppose, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Before reading James, I imagined this review would likely hone … Read more
[ad_1] University and independent presses are often underappreciated for the work they do to diversify publishing, and to support authors and books that might not fit into the narrow margins of mainstream publishing. We’ve started a new feature to spotlight some of these presses and we’re thrilled to start locally with a university press that’s … Read more
[ad_1] University and independent presses are often underappreciated for the work they do to diversify publishing, and to support authors and books that might not fit into the narrow margins of mainstream publishing. We’ve started a new feature to spotlight some of these presses and we’re thrilled to start locally with a university press that’s … Read more
[ad_1] Chicagoans love St. Patrick’s Day—we dye our river green, throw parades, set out on pub crawls, and showcase our Irish-American heritage with pride. General American interest in Irish culture has also been broadening in recent years as more Irish celebrities become household names in film and music, including Cillian Murphy, Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, … Read more
[ad_1] Whenever I meet writers who are from my home state of Texas, I have an immediate desire to grasp their hands and talk for long hours about thunderstorms and cicadas and BBQ. And how these elements overwhelm the writing brain and find their way onto the page, regardless of any attempts otherwise. This is … Read more
[ad_1] Where are your roots? How does language—that which you speak and that which speaks through you, if not literally then ancestrally—shift your identity and place in the world at large, and in your own community? Diego Báez’s collection Yaguareté White is an assured and intelligent debut that is lyrical and powerful, sharply examining such … Read more
[ad_1] Leslie Jamison’s Empathy Exams came to me nestled amidst a pile of Little Debbie’s Fudge Rounds—gifts my friends had chosen to soothe the pain of my recent miscarriage. I had no expectations of Jamison when I left my first chocolate smudges on the covers of her debut essay collection. My lack of preparation made … Read more
[ad_1] Love is a dangerous and frustrating emotion for Mariah Stovall’s main characters in her novel, I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both. Khaki Oliver is a socially awkward Black woman who was born punk. She mostly interacts with the world through the lens of music as evidenced by the book’s title, which … Read more