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] The groundhog didn’t see its shadow this year, and our team can confirm that it certainly feels like spring is nearly here. I can’t lie and say I’m not looking forward to a March where I can grab a light jacket and a book and head outside for some outdoor reading. But whether or … Read more
[ad_1] How do we begin to talk about the past four years—or even farther back—where perhaps the most unprecedented thing is the unprecedented need to overuse the word unprecedented? Tell me about it! In The Great Wave, Michiko Kakutani’s latest—a part political, part historical, nonfiction ride of a book—she does just that, taking us on … 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] When I began querying agents about my first novel, Plan Z by Leslie Kove, I faced a wall of “No!” And usually the reason included the phrase, “If J. D. Salinger were trying to sell The Catcher in the Rye in this day and age . . .” (the late 1980s), it would never … Read more