For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Ontological evil; the madness of evil or the evil of madness. This is the topic around which Johnny has centered his doctoral degree in Disaster Studies at All Saints University in Manchester, England. Raised in a children’s home, Johnny registers as more psychologically fragile (or maybe just more earnestly human) than the rest of … Read more
[ad_1] Once you see how the publishing sausage is made—how few books make it all the way through the gauntlet, and that at times it seems there is no rhyme or reason to why certain books succeed and others don’t—you can become disillusioned and quit, or become even more persistent in your efforts. The hard … Read more
[ad_1] There’s a certain serenity implicit on a “quiet street.” A quiet street is calm, peaceful; perhaps even a bit dull in its lack of activity. Such an atmosphere seems an appropriate place from which to reflect on past experience, as Nick McDonell does in his memoiristic exploration of the one percent, Quiet Street: On … Read more
[ad_1] Bookseller, co-owner, and self-proclaimed libromancer at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Josh Cook offers us a backstage view of some of the inner workings of the world of independent bookselling in his new work of nonfiction. What is a libromancer, you might ask? The suffix –mancer indicates someone who uses magic and the … Read more
[ad_1] Plant-based diets have in recent years shifted from fringe movements to mass market consumerism. The widespread market penetration of products like oat milk lattes has also meant many omnivores are making vegan dietary choices whether they intend to or not. Although there are ever more vegan cookbooks, there isn’t much about the history of … Read more
[ad_1] Chicago is home to an always generative arts and culture scene and is an exceptionally rich poetry town, inspiring and supporting a noteworthy group of America’s finest poets. Dr. Taylor Byas extends that lineage with her debut collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times, which showcases an assured poet exploring weighty concepts of … Read more
[ad_1] In the Lobby of the Dream Hotel is like a Lifetime movie run amok. Author Genevieve Plunkett’s anti-heroine Portia is a thirtysomething aspiring guitarist who struggles with bipolar disorder. Though the story is apparently set in the present day, Portia tries to fulfill a 1950s-housewife role while simultaneously playing in a punk rock band. … Read more
[ad_1] Don Paterson is one of the most decorated and influential poets writing in the UK today. He is also an accomplished guitarist who founded and toured with a jazz ensemble throughout the 90s. Early in his new memoir Toy Fights, which covers the first twenty years of his life, Paterson explains that he quit … Read more
[ad_1] I tore through Nick Fuller Googins’s debut novel, The Great Transition, over spring break, which my family spent in Wilmington, NC, a beautiful coastal town that could be substantially submerged by high tides as early as 2030 and completely underwater by 2100 if current carbon emission rates continue. In The Great Transition, we meet … Read more
[ad_1] Chicago Review of Books is excited to feature the cover reveal of Armen Davoudian’s debut poetry collection, The Palace of Forty Pillars, out on March 19, 2024 with Tin House Books! Regarded as a “brilliant and deft and heartfelt” collection by A Hundred Lovers author Richie Hoffman and praised for its images that “embody a … Read more