Motherhood, Daughterhood, and Loss in “Owner of a Lonely Heart” – Chicago Review of Books

Motherhood, Daughterhood, and Loss in “Owner of a Lonely Heart” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Halfway through Owner of a Lonely Heart, Beth Nguyen writes: “What would it take to make someone, to make you, to make me—leave everything known? The history of my family is also the history of multiple wars, of colonization, of imperialism, of loss and diaspora.” This line characterizes Nguyen’s full body of work, which … Read more

Writing For and Against Genre in “Beating Heart Baby” – Chicago Review of Books

Writing For and Against Genre in “Beating Heart Baby” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] There’s a certain meme that made its rounds throughout the queerer parts of Tumblr and Twitter several years ago, and still sometimes appears in conversation. In it, a person sees another person, and wonders, “do I want to be with them, or do I want to be them?” Lio Min’s new YA novel, Beating … Read more

Wry Humor, True Heart in “Ten Steps to Nanette” – Chicago Review of Books

Wry Humor, True Heart in “Ten Steps to Nanette” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Hannah Gadsby understands the value of context. In Nanette, her startling stand-up comedy show that was made into a Netflix special in 2018, she memorably provides additional context for Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. She recounts how she was once confronted by an audience member who, in the course of criticizing antidepressants, argued that if Van … Read more

Salvation Through Horror in “My Heart is a Chainsaw” – Chicago Review of Books

Salvation Through Horror in “My Heart is a Chainsaw” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones flashes his mastery of horror film history and raw teen angst in his novel, My Heart is a Chainsaw. Fresh off a double win at the Shirley Jackson Awards for his previous novel, The Only Good Indians, and novella, Night of the Mannequins, Jones lets his … Read more

The Tension at the Heart of Pop in “Warhol’s Mother’s Pantry” – Chicago Review of Books

The Tension at the Heart of Pop in “Warhol’s Mother’s Pantry” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] “Acountryisclosingitsborder… (This is not today.)” “Pandemic/persecution/(The country has no conscience)… (This is not today).” In the first pages of M.I. Devine’s debut collection of experimental essays, Warhol’s Mother’s Pantry: Art, America, and the Mom in Pop, he calls back to the political turmoil of the early 1920s, when a pandemic raged and the U.S. … Read more