A Manifesto for Progressive Bookselling in “The Art of Libromancy” – Chicago Review of Books

A Manifesto for Progressive Bookselling in “The Art of Libromancy” – Chicago Review of Books

[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

From Saving the Planet to Impossible Meat in Alicia Kennedy’s “No Meat Required” – Chicago Review of Books

From Saving the Planet to Impossible Meat in Alicia Kennedy’s “No Meat Required” – Chicago Review of Books

[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

Navigating Form and Structure in “I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times” – Chicago Review of Books

Navigating Form and Structure in “I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times” – Chicago Review of Books

[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

Make Your Visit Short at the Dream Hotel – Chicago Review of Books

Make Your Visit Short at the Dream Hotel – Chicago Review of Books

[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

Avoiding Boredom in “Toy Fights” – Chicago Review of Books

Avoiding Boredom in “Toy Fights” – Chicago Review of Books

[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

An Interview with Nick Fuller Googins – Chicago Review of Books

An Interview with Nick Fuller Googins – Chicago Review of Books

[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

A First Look at Armen Davoudian’s “The Palace of Forty Pillars” – Chicago Review of Books

A First Look at Armen Davoudian’s “The Palace of Forty Pillars” – Chicago Review of Books

[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

The Embrace of the Literary Speculative Space in “Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go” – Chicago Review of Books

The Embrace of the Literary Speculative Space in “Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] In her debut collection examining the myriad identities of modern Asian and Asian-American women, Cleo Qian does not shy away from both the real and surreal aspects of longing. Indeed, longing is the most palpable feeling of Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go, and Qian embodies this feeling in all its dimensions. Whether the … Read more

You Can Look, But You Can’t Touch in “I Hear You’re Rich” – Chicago Review of Books

You Can Look, But You Can’t Touch in “I Hear You’re Rich” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Diane Williams’s latest collection of flash fiction, I Hear You’re Rich, is something like a literary Rubik’s cube. Every time you think a story’s bigger picture is coming into focus, an exclamation—like a square of a different color—flips over to disrupt the solidity of what you’ve read. Or it might be that a story … Read more

The Anxiety of Choice in “How to Care for a Human Girl” – Chicago Review of Books

The Anxiety of Choice in “How to Care for a Human Girl” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Ashley Wurzbacher’s debut novel, How to Care for a Human Girl, feels exceptionally timely as it explores unwanted pregnancy in the years leading up to the Dobbs decision. Wurzbacher captures the tension caused by inflamed political divides in families and communities around abortion-related healthcare with artifacts of the distinct cultural moment—including the rise in … Read more