For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] “If you are squeamish don’t prod the beach rubble” is a line by Sappho* that serves as sound advice for the novels of Marguerite Duras. If you are squeamish, don’t crack the cover. There will be grief, there will be a threat of madness, there will be sensuality mottled with darkness, a family may … Read more
[ad_1] Let’s be real: end of the year book lists are incredibly subjective. They end up being a roundup of books that whoever the person putting the list together loved. And there’s obviously a wide gap between what was published versus what this particular person read. And yet, I personally love these roundup lists, especially … Read more
[ad_1] A talented bookbinder is tasked with creating a copy of a text so inflammatory it threatens to alter the very existence of Truth itself. Ogyga runs pretty well everything around here, and nothing much can be done about her because her sister is the abbess of the Nine Aspects of Joy, which … Read more
[ad_1] It’s a fantasy we’ve all imagined—winning the lottery. Most of us know exactly which debts we’d pay off first, what we’d buy, and who we’d help out if we found ourselves instant millionaires. But we’ve also heard story after story of a winning gone wrong—cautionary tales that highlight humanity’s greed. How money can make … Read more
[ad_1] Short stories demand more of the reader (and writer) than a novel, which is why I’ve long preferred the latter. Novels are more forgiving, their expansiveness allows for meandering. But short fiction requires more attention to each line, each carefully crafted detail. A short story isn’t a mini-novel, but the best ones often hint … Read more
[ad_1] Welcome to another installment of a collaboration between the Chicago Review of Books and the Your Favorite Book podcast. Malavika Praseed, frequent CHIRB contributor and podcast host, seeks to talk to readers and writers about the books that light a fire inside them. What’s your favorite book and why? Our guest is Keenan Norris, … Read more
[ad_1] Jane Smiley’s newest novel A Dangerous Business begins in the 1850s. The Gold Rush is in full swing as the American Civil War begins bubbling to the surface of society. Eliza literally makes a name for herself—changing her last name from Cargill to Ripple—by seeking employment at a brothel in Monterey, California after the … Read more
[ad_1] Grotesque monsters often serve as villains in children’s fairy tales. The monsters in Bora Chung’s story collection, Cursed Bunny, translated by Anton Hur, are sometimes less obvious, but not less terrifying. The stories defy conventional categorization. They range from horror to fantasy to slightly supernatural, with the individual stories varying in how they integrate … Read more
[ad_1] On December 8, 2022, we came together for the 2022 CHIRBy Awards, co-presented by StoryStudio Chicago! Now in its seventh year, the CHIRBy Awards is our annual celebration of the Chicago literary community where we honor the best Chicago-focused fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and short essays. Congratulations to this year’s winners and to all of … Read more
[ad_1] In her debut novel, Things We Found When the Water Went Down, Tegan Nia Swanson asks a lot of her readers. The initial pages of the book offer a list of characters and a map, and footnotes accompany the reader throughout, but it is nevertheless easy to become disoriented in this layered, complex story … Read more