A Portrait of Transformation in “Crook Manifesto” – Chicago Review of Books

A Portrait of Transformation in “Crook Manifesto” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] There are few writers working today that have shown as much willingness to work across the breadth of genre and subvert its conventions as Colson Whitehead. From the unique blend of reportage and memoir in The Noble Hustle and the post-apocalyptic horror of Zone One to the speculative fiction of The Intuitionist and the … Read more

A Portrait of the Self as a Young Woman in “All-Night Pharmacy” – Chicago Review of Books

A Portrait of the Self as a Young Woman in “All-Night Pharmacy” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] It’s fitting that the narrator of Ruth Madievsky’s debut novel, All-Night Pharmacy, is never given a name. Despite the first-person participant point of view, she seems to have sprung fully formed from the functions of those around her, namely her sister, Debbie. Her own traits, her own personhood, are obliterated when Debbie is around. … Read more

Beyond the Headlines, A Fuller Portrait Emerges in “Elizabeth Taylor” – Chicago Review of Books

Beyond the Headlines, A Fuller Portrait Emerges in “Elizabeth Taylor” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Elizabeth Taylor helped define the concept of global celebrity that currently dominates the pop culture landscape. She was half of one of the first celebrity power couples, paving the way for Brangelina and Bennifer, and a tireless activist during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Yet beneath all that glitz, glamour, and jewelry, she … Read more

Portrait of the Artist Transforming Grief in “Time Is a Mother” – Chicago Review of Books

Portrait of the Artist Transforming Grief in “Time Is a Mother” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] Like many, I’ve been eagerly anticipating Ocean Vuong’s Time Is a Mother, his second collection of poems following the success of Night Sky with Exit Wounds and his debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. But whether it’s a sign of our temporally unrooted times or my increasingly scattered mind, I found myself considering … Read more

Strokes of Authenticity in “Portrait of an Unknown Lady” – Chicago Review of Books

Strokes of Authenticity in “Portrait of an Unknown Lady” – Chicago Review of Books

[ad_1] It’s perhaps an unfortunate aspect of art that the value we perceive in it is at least partially derived from public opinion. Who was the work’s creator, and from what circumstances was it made? In Portrait of an Unknown Lady, the second novel from Maria Gainza that has been translated into English by Thomas … Read more