For The Book Obsessed
[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
[ad_1] We often pigeonhole people and their abilities: you’re a writer or an editor, a poet or a novelist, creative or strategic. My (admittedly anecdotal) experience suggests that such binaries are a fallacy, and Jill Bialosky is a distinctive example of how one can successfully juggle “all of the above.” As Executive Editor of W.W. … Read more
[ad_1] Satire often depends on specific moments in time and place. The challenge of writing great satire is in transcending those limits. For instance, Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal spoke to a time and place, anchored to a historic period, but rendered irrelevant by Ireland’s economic rise and the period of the Celtic Tiger. Or … Read more
[ad_1] Author of the Arab American Book Award-winning When We Were Arabs, Massoud Hayoun has two novels out this year: Building 46, which was released in May, and Last Night in Brighton, which will be released this week. Together, these two make up the Ghorba Ghost Story Series, which is a curious categorization for books … Read more
[ad_1] Can you believe the holiday season is already here? While December is often a time to look forward to the New Year, the publishing industry never stops. If you’re looking for a book to accompany you on your winter travels or need to sprint to complete your reading goals, there are plenty of exciting … Read more