Found Family, Forests, and Fantastical Storytelling from “In the Lives of Puppets” – Chicago Review of Books

Found Family, Forests, and Fantastical Storytelling from “In the Lives of Puppets” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] With In the Lives of Puppets, Lambda Literary Award-winning TJ Klune offers speculative fiction and young adult readers a fresh new tale. By loosely adapting The Adventures of Pinnochio, Klune tells the endearing story of a father creating life under unorthodox circumstances and a boy on a dangerous journey to a far-off land and … Read more

The Falsity of Happy Endings in “The One” – Chicago Review of Books

The Falsity of Happy Endings in “The One” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] When I was young, I loved The Bachelor. I was enthralled by the unnecessary conflict, envious of the contestants’ thin bodies, and desperate for the love stories that unfolded over the course of weeks. Inevitably, the couples would fall apart less than two months after the reunion special, so I’d never revisit seasons—all the … Read more

A Dark Shadow of the Marriage Plot in “Juno Loves Legs” – Chicago Review of Books

A Dark Shadow of the Marriage Plot in “Juno Loves Legs” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Near the beginning of Juno Loves Legs, Juno’s mother—a poorly paid seamstress struggling to make ends meet for her two daughters and alcoholic husband in a Dublin housing estate in the 1980s—modifies her own wedding dress so Juno can wear it to her confirmation. When her mother is killed in a sudden accident before … Read more

Five Poets on Poetry Collections That Deserve Your Attention – Chicago Review of Books

Five Poets on Poetry Collections That Deserve Your Attention – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In celebration of National Poetry Month, we have initiated a new regular series to highlight poets and what they are reading. For this first list, we asked some of our favorite poets to offer a brief commentary about a recent collection they thought deserved more recognition. This is the literary-equivalent of Sophie’s Choice, yet, naturally, … Read more

The Inward Gaze in “Games and Rituals” – Chicago Review of Books

The Inward Gaze in “Games and Rituals” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] The pandemic changed many things. There’s no going back, no return to normal, because the normal we left behind doesn’t exist. We all see the world differently, whether we want to or not. We’ve entered the post-pandemic, and our art is beginning to reflect the shift. Authors echo these changes. They can confront those … Read more

An Interview with Jacqueline Crooks – Chicago Review of Books

An Interview with Jacqueline Crooks – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” If there’s any book pulsing with this truth, spoken by Bob Marley about the power of music, it is Jacqueline Crooks’s Fire Rush—a book which one can expect to be astonished by from its musicality, fierce passion, and powerful originality. When … Read more

The Politics of Worldbuilding in “The Thick and the Lean” – Chicago Review of Books

The Politics of Worldbuilding in “The Thick and the Lean” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Chana Porter, author of the acclaimed speculative novel The Seep, has returned in full force to her imaginative worldbuilding and incisive cultural commentary that made that book so successful. In The Thick and the Lean, she explores a religious society where delicious food is taboo, and the act of eating is as inelegant and … Read more

“All Water Has Perfect Memory” – Chicago Review of Books

“All Water Has a Perfect Memory” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Chicago Review of Books is excited to feature the cover reveal of Nada Samih-Rotondo’s debut memoir, All Water Has Perfect Memory (out September 2023 with Jaded Ibis Press).  The blurb, author bio, and quotes that follow are all courtesy of the book’s publicist, Addie Tsai/ Levee Break Lit: “Life changed forever for six year … Read more

Revising Worlds and Worldviews in “Some Desperate Glory” – Chicago Review of Books

Revising Worlds and Worldviews in “Some Desperate Glory” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Emily Tesh’s World-Fantasy-Award-winning Silver In the Wood and its sequel Drowned Country are deeply lovely books: quiet, yearning, and full of ancient straining curses and redemption. Tesh turning her novelistic sights to space opera is an event that should make every speculative fiction reader take note: Some Desperate Glory is a masterful take on … Read more