News Fri Jun 27 2008

Good-bye Trib Books Section?

Rachel Deahl at Publisher's Weekly is worried that the planned Tribune redesign could spell the death of the Books section.

— Alice Maggio

Quotable Fri Jun 27 2008

Quotable Friday

Every Friday is Quotable Friday on the book club blog, where we highlight a notable passage from a book with a Chicago connection. This week's quotable is from Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago by Lealan Jones and Lloyd Newman. The authors were 13 years old when they conducted two award-winning National Public Radio documentaries in 1993 and 1995 about their experiences growing up in Chicago's Ida B. Wells Homes. This book is comprised of unused material from those broadcasts.

"Our neighborhood is a fun neighborhood if you know what you're doing. If you act like a little kid in this neighborhood, you're not gonna last too long. 'Cause if you play childish games in the ghetto, you're going to find a childish bullet in your childish brain. If you live in the ghetto, when you're ten you know everything you're not supposed to know. When I was ten I knew where drugs came from. I knew about every different kind of gun. I knew about sex. I was a kid in age, but my mind had the reality of a grown-up, 'cause I seen these things every day!

"Like when I was eight years old, my cousin Willy had a friend named Baby Tony and another friend, Little Cecil. They used to hang out—watch TV, go to the park and hoop, sell drugs. They all went to jail. When Baby Tony acme out he was walking through the park when a boy lit him up and blew his face off. His face was entirely blown off. And then a couple of days later Little Cecil sold somebody a dummy bag of plaster from off the walls, so the man who was using it came back and asked for his money back. Little Cecil took off running and the man shot him. And Cecil was dead. That was both of my cousin's friends that died in one week!"

— Alice Maggio

News Fri Jun 27 2008

Azizi Books

Bookselling This Week profiles Azizi Books, an African-American bookstore that opened in Matteson, IL, about 30 miles south of Chicago, this past November. The store is owned by Kevin Roberts and his daughter Maia. In BTW, Maia explains, "Our overall mission was to create a place that would expose and enlighten the community to the many books that speak to the African-American experience, and bring some community spirit back into the neighborhood at the same time."

They also have a bookstore blog. Read the post from Maia about why they chose Lincoln Mall in Matteson for the store's location. This is why I love local businesses.

— Alice Maggio

Events Mon Jun 23 2008

Event Spotlight: Jessica Abel & Matt Madden @ 57th St. Books

Join graphic novelists/artists Jessica Abel and Matt Madden as they stop by 57th St. Books on Thursday to discuss their latest publication Drawing Words & Writing Pictures: Making Comics from Manga to Graphic Novels. This might be a good one to go to if you've got graphic novel aspirations of your own. Free at 6pm, 1301 E. 57th St. Call 773-684-1300 for more information.

— Veronica Bond

News Fri Jun 20 2008

Lovable Losers Essay Contest

The Lovable Losers Literary Revue is hosting an essay contest for fans of Chicago's lovable losers (a.k.a. the Cubs). Tune in this Sunday to "Memories of the Game" on WRMN, 1410-AM, scheduled to air from Noon to 5pm, to hear some of the best entries received so far. The contest continues through the summer and will conclude with at the Revue's September event with Rick Kogan. If you want to share your favorite story about life as a Cub's fan, visit the website to find out how to enter.

— Alice Maggio

News Fri Jun 20 2008

Kate the Great's Book Emporium, RIP

Chicago is losing another indie bookshop. Kate the Great's is closing July 25. Right now they are having a going out of business sale. All used books are 50 percent off. Visit Kate the Great's while you still can at 5550 N. Broadway.

— Alice Maggio

Quotable Fri Jun 20 2008

Quotable Friday

Every Friday is Quotable Friday on the book club blog, where we highlight a notable passage from a book with a Chicago connection. This week's quotable is from our current book club selection, Free Burning by Bayo Ojikutu:

"Over here is nothing like the strips downtown, where folks march fast as legs move them—fast and slow all at once. Those people are headed where they don't want to be without any other choice in life but going there. Marching lines straight and ordered. Northbound against the curbside, southbound against the buildings, marching and hustling in their own way, to some bosses' time.

But 79th Street's sidewalks are too narrow for such downtown order. Our blocks were built for Jews and Germans and Polish long ago, those tiny, straight-line folk. Now just one jive soul heads east, walking directly toward another headed west. Folk dip and limp and slide their way through just in time, some imagined time. When the sidewalk becomes too clogged, the hustlers walk out in the middle of the street and force the cars to limp and slide on by."

— Alice Maggio

News Thu Jun 19 2008

Two More, Then I'm Done

Okay, I lied.

But this interview with David Sedaris at the New Haven Advocate has the best-worst title ever: "He Talk Pretty."

And St. Louis really, really loves Sedaris. Check out the crowds that camped out on the street for his reading at Left Bank Books on Wednesday.

— Alice Maggio

News Thu Jun 19 2008

100 Years of Being Wright

Did you know 2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of author Richard Wright? Through a happy coincidence we are reading his acclaimed novel Native Son for our September book club meeting. The Times Literary Supplement recently featured a biographical article about Wright, where you can learn about his exile to France and the possible reasons why he's been neglected by critics since his death in 1960. [via]

— Alice Maggio

Feature Wed Jun 18 2008

July 2008 Selection: Free Burning by Bayo Ojikutu

Free Burning, the second novel by local author Bayo Ojikutu, is the July 2008 selection of the Gapers Block Book Club. It was first published in 2006 and takes place on Chicago's South Side in the fictional Four Corners neighborhood, which roughly translates to the South Shore area. Four Corners is beleaguered by poverty, gangs and drugs, among a host of other social and economic problems.

The protagonist is Tommie Simms, who, as the book's jacket copy declares, "was supposed to be the community's hope, the young man from the neighborhood who made good." Simms went to college and graduated from Southern Illinois University. He landed a corporate job with Global Mutual IndemCorp, a downtown insurance firm, with an office on the 32nd floor. But Simms is laid off from his job after 9/11, and he becomes desperate for a way to support his wife, Tarsha, and their baby daughter. He turns to his drug-dealing cousin Remi and begins selling pot to help pay the bills and make ends meet. The novel focuses on his quick descent into Chicago's underworld, as Simms finds himself on the wrong side of a crooked cop and crosses paths with loan sharks, rival drug dealers and others looking to get a piece of him. Ojikutu reveals how easy it is for a good man to fall on hard times, and how difficult it is to escape and climb back out of the hole.

Library Journal said, "Ojikutu's harsh and often violent depiction of the street life, where everyone has developed his or her own hustle to get by, is riveting." And Kirkus gave Free Burning a starred review, calling the story gritty, lyrical and intense, and describing Ojikutu's writing style as "a cross between James Baldwin's soulful song and the nightmare poetry of Louis-Ferdinand Cline." And in Black Issues Book Review, Denolyn Carroll summed up the novel as "a powerful work of urban fiction."

About the Author

Bayo Ojikutu was born in 1971 and is a Chicago native, born and raised. His father, Owolabi, is from Nigeria, and his mother originally hails from Louisiana. Ojikutu attended the University of Illinois, and earned his master's at DePaul University. He still lives in the city and teaches in the English department at DePaul. His first novel, 47th Street Black, published in 2003, was a winner of the Washington Prize for Fiction and the great American Book Contest. Ojikutu is definitely a local author to watch, as his star continues to rise.

Additional Resources

Read an interview with Ojikutu from the Fall 2006 books issue of the Chicago Reader.

~*~

Read the book, and then join us on Monday, July 14, at The Book Cellar, beginning at 7:30pm for our discussion. New members are always welcome.

— Alice Maggio / Comments (2)

News Tue Jun 17 2008

Watch the Video, Read the Book

How often does the Book Club have a reason to link to a video on YouTube? Not very. In fact, this is a first. But you have every reason to watch this neat video using photos and snippets from The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon. [via]

— Alice Maggio

Events Mon Jun 16 2008

Happy Bloomsday

June 16 is known to James Joyce fans as Bloomsday, the day that is chronicled in his massive novel Ulysses. If you feel like celebrating, drop by the Irish American Heritage Center for its Bloomsday Celebration, starting tonight at 8pm. The event will include readings, music and performances. Tickets are $10. 4626 N. Knox Ave. Call 773-282-7035 for more information.

— Alice Maggio

Events Mon Jun 16 2008

Event Spotlight: June Jamboree Benefit for Literacy Works

This Saturday, join non-profit organization Literacy Works for a June Jamboree Benefit and help them continue in their efforts to support Chicago-area literacy agencies. The family-friendly event will include live music from the Northside Southpaws, a caricature artist, Henna tattoos, and a silent auction. Tickets are $25 if purchased in advance, $30 at the door; tickets for children 12 and under are $5. Advance tickets can be bought by calling 773-334-8255 or emailing christine[at]litworks[dot]org. 6-9pm at North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski Rd.

— Veronica Bond

Quotable Fri Jun 13 2008

Quotable Friday

Every Friday is Quotable Friday on the book club blog, where we highlight a notable passage from a book with a Chicago connection. This week's quotable is from The Sweetheart Is In by S.L. Wisenberg:

"Ruthie imagines sex without pain. She imagines it the way she tried to reconstruct dreams, really reconstruct. Or builds an image while she is praying. She imagines a blue castle somewhere on high, many steps, a private room, fur rug, long mattress, white stucco walls, tiny windows. She imagines leaving her body. It frightens her. If she leaves her body, leaves it cavorting on the bed/fur rug/kitchen table (all is possible when there is sex without pain), she may not get it back. Her body may just get up and walk away, without her, wash itself, apply blusher mascara lipstick, draw up her clothes around it, take her purse and go out to dinner. Big Ruthie herself will be left on the ceiling, staring down at the indentations on the mattress and rug, wishing she could reach down and take a book from a shelf."

— Alice Maggio

News Thu Jun 12 2008

Two Quickies

• Its recent collection of four classic Philip K. Dick novels has turned out to be the Library of America's fastest-selling title ever, even easily beating Jack Kerouac.

• The Onion A.V. Club has a review of Such a Pretty Fat, the latest book by Jen Lancaster, which begins by saying, "Chicago-based memoirist Jen Lancaster would make a shitty diet coach."

— Alice Maggio

News Wed Jun 11 2008

News in Brief

Books and writers with a Chicago connection in the news:

• Eliot Asinof, author of the book Eight Men Out about the Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919, has passed away. [via]

• Chicago-born rapper Common has started The Corner Book Club for teens through his Common Ground Foundation. Currently the online book group is reading Long Way Gone, Memoirs of A Boy Soldier by Ishmaell Beah.

• Nancy Horan, the author of Loving Frank, a fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright's love affair with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, talks about how she was "concerned that those who revere Wright's work might be angry that her novel would tarnish his legacy." [via]

• What would you do if a policeman offered you any book from Ernest Hemingway's library for $200?

• Andy Austin, author of Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians and Murderers in an American Courtroom, is interviewed about her 40 years as a courtroom sketch artist for Smithsonian Magazine. [via]

— Alice Maggio

Feature Wed Jun 11 2008

Books for Dads

Father's Day is coming up this Sunday, June 15, so why not get dad a little something from your local bookshop? The following titles might give you some ideas for summer reading for your father or other special guy in your life. As a bonus, in keeping with our local spirit, all the titles have a Chicago connection.

New Dads might enjoy Alternadad: The True Story of One Family's Struggle to Raise a Cool Kid in America by Neal Pollack in which the former Chicago Reader staffer and "self-styled party guy" tells how he and his wife managed to become responsible parents without giving up their hipster lifestyle.

If your dad appreciates a good laugh, try When You Are Engulfed in Flames, the sixth collection of essays by bestselling humorist David Sedaris.

Political junkies will love the new book from Lake Claremont Press Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians, and Murderers in an American Courtroom by Andy Austin. Austin has been a courtroom artist in Chicago for the past 40 years and covered some of the city's biggest trials including those of the Chicago Seven, John Wayne Gacy and Joey “the Clown” Lombardo. Rule 53 is her account of the drama she has witnessed in Chicago's courtrooms.

Local history buffs will appreciate Chicago under Glass: Early Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, a wonderful photography book by Mark Jacob and Richard Cahan, or give him Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott, the bestselling book about Chicago's legendary Everleigh Club brothel which is now out in paperback.

Finally, if the dad in your life loves a good story, give him The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon about the death of Lazarus Averbuch in Chicago in 1908 and a writer who becomes obsessed with Averbuch's story in the present day.

All of these books will keep fathers busy reading this summer. Check them out and make this Sunday a happy father's day for someone in your life.

— Alice Maggio / Comments (2)

News Wed Jun 11 2008

Last David Sedaris Post....Really

The Boston Globe just joined the party with its review of When You Are Engulfed in Flames, the latest essay collection by serial memoirist David Sedaris, saying "Much the way that Celine Dion will never run out of hot air or Middle America will never lose its appetite for funnel cakes, so it seems that David Sedaris will never lose his ability to recall the most minute details of his curious North Carolina childhood."

— Alice Maggio

News Tue Jun 10 2008

Top 10 Books Owned by Chicagoans

...on LibraryThing.com. What does this list say about us?

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
7. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

— Alice Maggio

News Mon Jun 09 2008

More David Sedaris

As we wrap up our month of David Sedaris tonight, here are a few more Sedaris items in the news:

• NPR talks about his new book When You Are Engulfed in Flames and has an excerpt.

• Read an interview with Sedaris at Entertainment Weekly in which he responds to criticism about his exaggeration of facts in his work.

• Sedaris also recently talked to Newsweek about his current U.S. book tour.

— Alice Maggio

Events Mon Jun 09 2008

Event Spotlight: David Sedaris Readings

Tonight we're meeting to discuss David Sedaris's Naked at the Book Cellar, but Sedaris will also be in town this week for readings from his latest book of essays When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Catch him at Borders in Evanston on Wednesday (7:30pm, 1700 Maple Ave., 847-733-8852) and at Barbara's UIC on Thursday (7:30pm, 1218 S. Halsted St., 312-413-2665). Both events are free, although the Barbara's event is ticketed and tickets can be had by purchasing the book at their store. I'd suggest getting to either one early - Sedaris draws a huge crowd and there is a great risk of being shut out of the reading (I speak from personal experience).

— Veronica Bond

Quotable Thu Jun 05 2008

Quotable Friday

Every Friday is Quotable Friday on the book club blog, where we highlight a notable passage from a book with a Chicago connection. This week's quotable is from Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention by Frank Kusch:

"At issue was the belief that anyone donning counterculture dress was a threat. There were no more 'innocent flower children.' Former cop Norm Nelson, for example, viewed the Yippies as what the hippies had become, having now abandoned all pretense of flower power and peace. Nelson had read about them in the local papers. 'We knew who they were—they had metamorphosed into the real thing. Yippie was the myth. It was the coming of war; from ’67 on it was a battle, and they were showing their true colors in the weeks and months leading up to the convention in our city.…Let’s put it this way, we were ready for those SOBs.'”

— Alice Maggio

Feature Thu Jun 05 2008

GB Book Club Guide to the 2008 Printers Row Book Fair

The 24th annual Printers Row Book Fair takes place this weekend in the South Loop, on Dearborn, between Congress and Polk. It is the biggest literary extravaganza in the city, and admission to all the events is free. More than 200 authors and 150 booksellers are scheduled to participate in this year's fair, so we've put together this guide to highlight the best of the best of the fair, pointing out authors of current and past Book Club selections appearing at the fair, don't-miss events and our favorite local booksellers and publishers.

Tell Them You Read It for the Book Club

How many of these books did you read along with us? Meet the writers of some of our past (and future) book club picks. You might even get your books signed.

Achy Obejas – Saturday at 11am at the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Stage
Memory Mambo by Achy Obejas was our April 2006 selection, and the novel's unforgettable climax still gives me the willies. But in addition to writing award-winning novels, Obejas is also an accomplished poet. She will be giving a poetry reading this morning as the fair gets underway.

Alex Kotlowitz – Saturday at Noon at the Heartland Stage
Kotlowitz talks to author Nancy Horan during this event about her debut novel Loving Frank, which tells the true story of the affair between architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Chesney. We just read Never a City So Real by Kotlowitz for our January 2008 book.

Studs Terkel and Rick Kogan – Saturday at 3pm at the Harold Washington Library Center Cindy Pritzker Auditorium [Ticketed Event]
The venerable Studs Terkel holds court at the Chicago Public Library Saturday afternoon. His most recent book is his long-awaited memoir Touch and Go, but we read his first book, Division Street: America, in February 2006. Terkel never fails to entertain, and his wit is still sharp as a tack at 96 years old. He'll be talking to another favorite Chicagoan, Tribune journalist and WGN radio personality Rick Kogan. We read his book A Chicago Tavern: A Goat, a Curse, and the American Dream for our April 2007 meeting, and Kogan's appearance at and participation in our discussion was one of our most memorable book club meetings. This event will draw a big crowd, so be sure to reserve your free tickets ASAP.

Kevin Guilfoile – Saturday at 4pm at Grace Place, Sanctuary, 2nd Floor
Kevin Guilfoile moderates a discussion titled "Murder Most Foul," featuring a panel of fellow local crime writers, including Libby Fischer Hellman, Marcus Sakey, Sean Chercover and Michael Dymmoch. Guilfoile joined the book club for a highly memorable meeting when we read his first novel Cast of Shadows in November 2006.

Elizabeth Berg, Elizabeth Crane and Amy Krouse Rosenthal – Sunday at 11am at the Heartland Stage
Three – yes, three – book club authors in one great event! Don't miss this one as Amy Krouse Rosenthal moderates a discussion with Elizabeth Berg and Elizabeth Crane. Bestselling author Elizabeth Berg's new book is Dream When You're Feeling Blue, and we read her novel The Year of Pleasures in May 2007. Crane is promoting her new story collection titled You Must Be This Happy to Enter. We read her previous book All This Heavenly Glory for our February 2007 meeting. And Rosenthal's unconventional memoir Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life was our June 2006 selection.

Karen Abbott in conversation with Rick Kogan – Sunday at 3pm at the Heartland Stage
Abbott will be talking to Rick Kogan about her best-selling nonfiction work Sin in the Second City about Chicago's infamous Everleigh Club. The book is coming out in paperback now, and we'll be reading Sin in the Second City for our November 2008 meeting.

Aleksandar Hemon – Sunday at 3:30pm at the Harold Washington Library Center Multi-Purpose Room [Ticketed Event]
Hemon is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Question of Bruno and Nowhere Man, which was our October 2005 selection. Now he's due to repeat that success with his new book The Lazarus Project. Reserve your free tickets for a chance to see this still-rising local literary star.

Audrey Niffenegger and Elizabeth Crane – Sunday at 4pm at the Heartland Stage
If you go to see Karen Abbott at 3pm, don't get out of your seat, because Audrey Niffenegger and Elizabeth Crane are up next, participating in the Other Voices finale reading along with fellow local writers Billy Lombardo and Gina Frangello. Niffenegger is the author of the best-selling novel The Time Traveler's Wife, our June 2005 book club book, and this is your second chance to see Crane at the fair (see above).

More Local Authors and Don't-Miss Events

Scott Turow – Saturday at 10am at the Harold Washington Library Center Cindy Pritzker Auditorium [Ticketed Event]
Turow is a prominent Chicago lawyer and author of such wildly popular novels as Presumed Innocent and Reversible Errors. This year he is receiving the Harold Washington Literary Award.

S.E. Hinton – Saturday at Noon at the Harold Washington Library Center Cindy Pritzker Auditorium [Ticketed Event]
This is the event not to miss. The S.E. Hinton, author of the modern classics The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now, will be at the book fair to receive the 2008 Chicago Tribune Young Adult Book Prize. Get tickets now if you still can, otherwise you'll be left standing outside, clutching your dog-eared copy of The Outsiders and telling complete strangers how Pony Boy was your favorite character ever when you were 12.

Chris Ware, Ivan Brunetti and Chris Oliveros – Saturday at 1pm at the Heartland Stage
Well-known local comics artist Chris Ware will be appearing with fellow cartoonist Ivan Brunetti and Drawn & Quarterly publisher Chris Oliveros to talk about "Cartoonists Editing Comics." This event is another don't-miss in my book.

Augusten Burroughs – Sunday at 1:30pm at the Harold Washington Library Center Cindy Pritzker Auditorium [Ticketed Event]
Burroughs is the author of the best-selling books Running with Scissors and Dry. His most recent memoir is A Wolf at the Table. Reserve your tickets now for a chance to see him at the fair.

Alpana Singh and Charles Blackstone – Sunday at 3pm at the Good Eating Stage
Alpana Singh is the host of the popular local PBS series "Check Please!" and the author of Alpana Pours. In this event she talks with hubby Charles Blackstone, author of the novel The Week You Weren't Here.

Local Booksellers, Publishers and Other Friends of the Book Club

Be sure to stop by these booths, and tell them Gapers Block sent you (results may vary).

The Book Cellar – OO
The Book Cellar has been generously hosting the GB Book Club's monthly meetings since our group's inception. Not only is The Book Cellar a great local bookshop (and not a bad place for lunch, either), but the staff also works tirelessly to support and promote local authors through the store's monthly Local Author Night series and other events on its typically packed schedule.

Chicago Writers Association – 245, 247
The Chicago Writers Association is a creative community of hardworking up-and-coming local writers. Members will be manning the tables at the fair. Check out the CWA website to see which writers will be appearing at the fair.

Featherproof Books – 327, 329
Local indie publisher Featherproof Books is gaining a respectable track record for publishing some pretty cool novels by some pretty cool new writers, including its latest, the typographical graphic novel boring boring boring boring boring boring boring by Zach Plague. We read the Featherproof's first publishing effort, The Enchanters Vs. Sprawlburg Springs by Brian Costello, for our February 2008 book.

Lake Claremont Press – DD
We love local publisher Lake Claremont Press because they publish book about our favorite topic — Chicago. From the city's food to its history, ghosts, culture, music, geography and more, the books from Lake Claremont Press all read like love letters to our city.

The Newberry Library – 142
What is The Newberry Library? Besides being one of the world's leading independent research libraries, it is also host to dozens of events throughout the year, including musical and theatrical performances, exhibits, lectures, workshops and seminars in the humanities. And, best of all, this incredible resource is free and open to the public. The Newberry also holds an annual book fair in July that should not be missed.

The Poetry Center of Chicago – PBP2
The Poetry Center of Chicago is dedicated to supporting and promoting poets and their work throughout the city through regular events, readings and its successful Hands on Stanzas program which places Chicago poets in public school classrooms to encourage students to read and write poetry.

TallGrass Writers Guild – 225
The TallGrass Writers Guild is an active community of local writers that holds regular readings and literary events at venues around the city. The group also publishes an annual anthology of writings in association with Outrider Press.

Third World Press – F
Local publisher Third World Press is one of the country's "oldest and well-respected independent publishers of Black thought and literature." It was founded in 1967 and the publisher's extensive catalog includes works by Gwendolyn Brooks, press founder and author Haki R. Madhubuti, Sterling Plumpp, Tavis Smiley and more.

Women & Children First – PP
Women & Children First is one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country and has been one of Chicago's best-loved indie bookstores since it first opened in 1979. Although the store carries titles on every topic imaginable, its real strengths are in its excellent stock of books by and about women, children's books, and lesbian and gay fiction and nonfiction.

~*~

For complete information about the fair, including the full schedule, maps and ticket information for the special events, visit the official Printers Row Book Fair website.

— Alice Maggio

Book Club Wed Jun 04 2008

Naked Discussion Questions

Below are some questions we'll use to discuss David Sedaris's Naked at our meeting next week. I can't wait to hear everyone's opinions on this unique form of memoir.

• How would you describe Sedaris's style? How does it compare to other memoirs you've read?
• Do you trust Sedaris as the narrator of his own story? Do you question the veracity of any of his stories?
• How are the essays in the book linked together? Did they flow together well or did you feel they were distinct and separate?
• Is Sedaris's portrayal of his family fair? Does it seem honest to you or do you think some of their characteristics were embellished?
• How does Sedaris deal with his sexuality in these essays? Do you find it an important element or do you think it could have been omitted or toned down?
• Do you find Sedaris as the narrator a sympathetic "character"?
• Do you think Sedaris is trying to elicit a certain response from his readers? Has the book changed or enhanced your view of the author?
• Sedaris uses a comic tone to deal with several sensitive topics. Does this tone take away from these issues?

— Veronica Bond / Comments (1)

News Tue Jun 03 2008

More Vonnegut

The Quarterly Conversation has a review of Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut in its latest issue, and notes, "Armageddon in Retrospect stands as a vantage point from which to survey Vonnegut's life's work, and his work has always been about war. Against war, to be precise; this book can be considered the devoted pacifist's final diatribe on his favorite subject."

— Alice Maggio

News Tue Jun 03 2008

50 Best Cult Books

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut tops the list of 50 Best Cult Books from the critics at the Telegraph.

— Alice Maggio

Ink Tue Jun 03 2008

Funny Stuff

Funny books and humorous writers: Which books make you laugh out loud?

— Alice Maggio / Comments (2)

Events Tue Jun 03 2008

See Sedaris, If You Hurry

David Sedaris, author of our June book, Naked, is going to be at the UIC location of Barbara's Bookstore on June 12 to discuss his latest collection of essays, When You are Engulfed in Flames, which comes out today. The audience for the reading will be very limited: only 100 seats, and you'll need a ticket to attend, which you can only get by purchasing the new book at the bookstore starting today.

If you don't land one of the 100 tickets, don't fret -- there will also be a book-signing that's open for all. Expect a long, long line for it, though. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you at our Naked discussion on Monday at the Book Cellar.

— Andrew Huff

Events Mon Jun 02 2008

Event Spotlight: Printer's Row Book Fair

It's that time again...time to head down to Dearborn and Polk and walk through bookseller-lined blocks, checking out all the wonderful literary ware our fine city has to offer at the Printer's Row Book Fair. Don't forget to check the schedule of readings, too. Notable authors such as Studs Terkel, Ivan Brunetti, Aleksander Hemon and Chris Ware will be there, along with other local authors of particular interest to Book Club members. You can find the full schedule of readings here and the full list of vendors here. The Fair runs Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm.

— Veronica Bond