The latest iteration of underground classic The Car Thief comes in a surprisingly modern form but remains a timeless tale. more ›

We here at Chicagoist have a very straightforward question to ask: do you like chicken-limos? Yes, that's what we said: Chicken-limo. more ›

May brings us some intense reads. While we're preparing for the summer days, there's a bit of lingering severity in the air. These novels, a taste of what's out this month, are solid houses: their foundations are secure and the body is complex, but without superfluous or unnecessary tendencies. more ›

About a year ago, we interviewed comic artist Jeffrey Brown about Incredible Change-Bots 2, his wacky parody of the Transformers. We're thrilled to report that his new comic book, Darth Vader and Son is out and ready to be consumed. The book, in the most adorable way possible, poses the question: what if Darth Vader were an involved father? By "involved" we don't mean that Vader earns the award for most attentive and loving father, instead Brown depicts our favorite un-cuddly villain as an annoyed but indulging dad for Luke. The possibilities for awkward father-son moments is limitless, and Brown's humor is spot on. In his lengthy repertoire of work, Jeffrey Brown has had numerous books published which you might be familiar with, including Clumsy, Unlikely, or Cat Getting Out of a Bag and Other Observations. And if you're not acquainted with any of the above, there will be a chance for that to change. more ›

National Poetry Month is coming to a close, but there are still some choice events left for the poetry enthusiast to enjoy. On Wednesday, April 25: Gregg Shapiro will read from his latest chap book, and will be joined by writers David Trinidad and Eva Marguerite Olsgard at Women & Children First Bookstore. more ›

While we eagerly await Stacey Waite's next release we'll have to make do with satisfying ourselves with her contributions to the latest Columbia Poetry Review. more ›

The premise of the Dollhouse Reading Series is quite simple: tote along your favorite beer to a quiet Chicago apartment, get cozy, and listen to some of the most talented emerging poets around. more ›

One Book, One Chicago has announced their spring 2012 selection: Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by the young and excrutiatingly talented Yiyun Li. This is Li's third book and she returns to the medium of the short stories, some of which are close to novella length. The collection has racked up reviews from the A.V. Club, NPR, and The New Yorker who also selected Li for one of their 20 Under 40 authors. All of the stories are set in modern China and provide keen insight to culture that swarms about it. We'll be looking to OBOC next week, as they have announced several celebratory events for Li's achievements. Also stay tuned to their tumblr site for extra news, videos, and related events. more ›

While there are plenty of memoirs, wannabe epic love stories, and bildungsromans emerging with the craze of spring fever, there are some books here to stave us away from the puff pieces, or at least to keep our sarcasm in tact. more ›

The Whistler is hosting a book release party with Featherproof Books and the author we're most interested in seeing is Miss Amelia Gray. more ›

This Thursday The Enlightened Cyclist book tour is coming to Chicago, sponsored by the Book Cellar. more ›

The Zinesters were out in full force this weekend for Chicago Zine Fest 2012. We stopped by the Exhibition at The Conway Center on Saturday to take a peek. The 101 tables were swamped with zines, comics, small presses, and political pamphlets, and the attendees were sticking to them like honey-crazed bees. It was both refreshing and impressive to see the new and innovative creativity that buds within our city, as well as the intellect that it attracts. more ›

The 2012 Chicago Zine Fest is fast approaching. March 9-10 is the weekend for small press, self-published, and independent publishers to show us their stuff. more ›

Most authors would shy away from re-telling, or even writing a book resembling, a classic novel, but Margot Livesey has fearlessly unleashed her bold re-visualization of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. more ›

The Angel Esmeralda has a DeLillo tune to it. The prose is original, succinct, even playful at times. Yet, his stories have become darker with less room for a breath of relief. The reader is left in awe at his genius, amidst an unease that only comes from DeLillo's vigilant human observations. more ›

Cookbooks, novels, treasured tomes - Which books made us obsessed with food and drink? Hint: No celebrity chef cookbooks to be found. more ›

By: Maggie Hellwig more ›

What do you get when you take Harlem Renaissance literature and adapt it to a one-man stage performance? Well, here's your chance to find out. more ›

Non-fiction Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Urrea is a renowned writer of all genres and one of the creative writing professors at UIC. Next week he appears at one of Trib Nation's Events. more ›

A gas station at the corner of Rosemont and Western in 1962 Chicago. That's the setting for this brand new story from author Barry Gifford. more ›

Brad Parsons's timely new tome provides an in-depth account of the origins, uses and benefits (both real and purported), eventual disappearance and recent resurgence of bitters. more ›

By: Maggie Hellwig more ›

It’s just about the middle of November, which means thousands of writers worldwide are nearly halfway through a ridiculous and admirable pursuit. National Novel Writing Month — or NaNoWriMo to get it all into one breath — is an annual month-long challenge during which writers attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. The emphasis is quantity over quality, to simply get the words out and onto the screen instead of nitpicking sentence structure or mulling over plot points. more ›

The Empty Bottle kicks off the first meeting of Books, Booze & Brunch this Sunday with a discussion of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diary. more ›

Back in 2006, Leon Logothetis trekked across the States on only $5 a day and the generosity of strangers, and then he turned it into the TV show Amazing Adventures of a Nobody. Well, he’s up to his nomadic antics again, this time traveling from NYC to LA in the Kindness Cab and giving away free taxi rides along the way. more ›

The Chicago Public Library is asking Chicagoans to answer a few questions about their reading habits so the library can better develop their programming to better match what patrons want. more ›

Local independent publisher featherproof has a reputation for publishing edgy and envelope-pushing books. Their publications tend to contain supernatural experiences, secret agents, or complicated and conflicted characters (and at times, their books contain all of the above). And now they’re back with a novel by Tim Kinsella titled which looks to be yet another dense and rewarding read. more ›

For many Chicagoans, most of what they've seen of Dmitry Samarov is from the back seat of his Scion cab, or what they've gleaned from his observations of the city via his paintings and pencil drawings. Now that University of Chicago Press has released Samarov's first book, Hack: Stories From a Chicago Cab, the artist, writer and cab driver is showing up everywhere, from the pages of The Trib to Bob Edward's Talk of the Nation to an art show at Saki Records with musician Chris Brokaw (see the info for tonight's opening reception of "Music and Baseball" at the end of the interview). more ›

Tomorrow, University of Chicago Press is publishing Dmitry Samarov's "Hack: Stories From A Chicago Cab." more ›

A newish monthly literary reading series and potluck, Here’s the Story, is happening tomorrow night. Each month, they’ll bring five readers to Stage773 at 1225 W. Belmont. Five audience members get to tell stories, too. They can tell any sorts of stories, be they fact or fiction. Audience members get 50 points to doll out between the walk-up stories, and the person with the most points gets invited back the following month as a featured reader. We’ve been to amateur reading events, and events with only published authors, and from our own experience, it doesn’t really matter if you’ve been published in a literary journal or not; writers of all calibers have great stories to tell, so we look forward to a friendly mix of both. more ›