For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] Chicago Review of Books is excited to feature the cover reveal of Nada Samih-Rotondo’s debut memoir, All Water Has a Perfect Memory (out September 2023 with Jaded Ibis Press). The following blurb, author bio, and following quotes are all courtesy of the book’s publicist, Addie Tsai/ Levee Break Lit: “Life changed forever for six … Read more
[ad_1] When I’m excited about a book I skip the back cover blurb and jump right in. Why would I need to read a description of National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela’s new story collection, The People Who Report More Stress, when I already know how much I love his work? And short stories by … Read more
[ad_1] StoryStudio Chicago is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year! The organization first opened its doors in 2003 with just four students. Today, StoryStudio has become an important literary institution in Chicago and across the country, welcoming more than 1,200 writers each year to dedicated writing classes, readings, events, festivals, and more. At its heart, … Read more
[ad_1] Joe Milan Jr.’s debut novel, The All-American, follows Bucky Yi as he comes of age through some of the most harrowing events a teenager can witness: the poverty of his hometown, the near death of his only male role model, deportation, conscription into a foreign military, and the violence and madness resulting from isolation, … Read more
[ad_1] In the first story of Andrew Porter’s latest collection, The Disappeared, the narrator is a guest at a house party in Austin, Texas. He is middle-aged with a wife and two kids, and it’s his first time seeing his old friends together for some time. While they sit around a fire pit smoking cigarettes … Read more
[ad_1] In Elizabeth McKenzie’s rollicking new novel Dog of the North, a woman named Penny is contacted by a man named Burt Lampey, who claims to be her grandmother Dr. Pincer’s accountant. When Burt asks Penny to help him evacuate her grandmother from her home in Santa Barbara, Penny agrees to— she’s recently suffered a … Read more
[ad_1] The shortest novels I have read tend to follow one of two trajectories: a steady build towards a climactic event, or regular shifts between calm and upset. Tiffany Clarke Harrison’s debut novel Blue Hour is of the latter variety, keeping you poised for disaster with the turn of every page. The multi-ethnic photographer who … Read more
[ad_1] In a recent opinion piece for The Guardian, Andrey Kurkov writes about recycling. While over 3,000 Russian tanks have been destroyed since the beginning of the latest war in Ukraine, it’s the smaller scrap metal and artillery shell casings that artists have focused on painting for European auctions that have raised money for the … Read more
[ad_1] Research has shown there’s a hereditary component to trauma—its effects can be passed down in utero, etched into our DNA. When I first came across the research, I thought about this country’s horrific history of genocide and slavery and wondered about the implications beyond a single generation. What are the effects on the descendants … Read more
[ad_1] We return to the time of green. It’s spring—yes, manifest it—it’s spring. The sharp blades of the most intrepid plants are pushing through earth still cold from winter snow. Where I live, tender white snowdrops still linger from February, watching over newcomer white and lilac crocuses with their creamy orange pistils. Each walk around … Read more