This whole CWM history deal is something of a learning process. Well, hopefully it is for you, Constant Reader, as well as for us. For example, we were well aware of the incredible and ever-swelling numbers of Chicago history books, with their tremendous photographic accompaniment. Hell, we practically have the Dewey Decimal reference number for the "HIST-CHICAGO" section at Sulzer memorized. (It's F548 something something.) So when we were doing a little research at the... more ›

When we placed the call for new food and drink writers last month, we had an idea of what we were looking for. Then real life interceded. Some candidates dropped out of the running. Those that remained made their case, the quality of writing so good we felt bad having to cut someone. Then we envisioned some candidates in roles we didn't expect, and someone wrote us with an offer we couldn't refuse. When the... more ›

Chicagoist may have had our disagreements with Richard Roeper in the past, but we're happy he didn't hold that against us when he chose his favorite local website. In the January 2006 issue of Today's Chicago Woman (available for free in newstands all over the city), Roeper chose to include Chicagoist as one of his favorite online reads. more ›

A number of the most important figures in the world graphic novels (a more artsy and less-juvenile way of saying “comic books”) are hometown boys. Dan Clowes – author of the Eightball series and the Ghost World comic and screenplay – and Chris Ware – who has a weekly strip in the Reader and just edited McSweeney’s comics-only issue (oh, Dave Eggers, you so crazy!) – are two of the most prominent examples. And while their contemporary Adrian Tomine doesn’t hail from the shores of Lake Michigan – he foolishly spends his time on the coasts instead – at least he’ll be in town tonight promoting his latest collection, the odds-and-ends anthology Scrapbook. more ›