Michael Ian Black has started a "feud" with ex-Chicagoan (now Frenchman?) David Sedaris to promote Black's new book My Custom Van. Black will be in town July 21 to sign copies.......

Best-selling memoirist/essayist and frequent This American Life contributor David Sedaris has a new book, When You Are Engulfed In Flames (out today), and is visiting Chicago next week for a pair of appearances. First is an appearance at Border's in Evanston on Wednesday, June 11 where he'll be reading from and signing the new book. The store will begin passing out free wristbands for the signing portion of the event at 2 p.m. the day......

It's the first Friday of the month which means The Dollar Store Show, a series of readings and performances based on purchases for a buck, returns to the Hideout. This month's readers include writers James Kennedy and Jonathan Messinger as well as theater performers Sarah Haskins and Diana Slickman. Hideout, Friday, 7 p.m. $1 We can't decide which under-appreciated literary group to support on Saturday so we'll list two and hopefully hop between them. First,......

This is a really simple, informational post. There is a website called SwapSimple.com, where you can trade books, DVDs and video games with people. You open up a free account, you list your stuff, and you trade for other people's stuff. We checked it out, and you have to pay for the shipping and handling (via USPS), but other than that, you can change out your collection nearly for free. The people at SwapSimple.com are......

When we start getting a little crazy from family overload we find it is best to get out, go to a show or meet up with some friends. We thought we would make it a little easier for you this weekend, here a few things going on around town. As always, feel free to add more events in the comments section. On Christmas Eve, entrance into the Museum of Science and Industry is free. Their......

Holy son of a gun, there is a lot going on in Chicago this weekend. And it is going to be HOT. And if you're anything like Chicagoist--lacking A/C in the ay pee tee--you may be thinking: "hmmm, McCormick Place may not be such a bad place to spend my weekend." In that case, lucky you, because the American Library Association will be there, hosting its 2005 Annual Conference. You're not a librarian, you say?......

Joffrey Ballet: The Nutcracker Christmas without the Joffrey and “The Nutcracker” would be like fruitcake without the fruit. This production didn’t travel the country and sell out the Kennedy Center for nothing, and now here it is, right in your very own backyard. Go. See. Repeat. Auditorium Theatre Tickets: $15–$90 Through Dec. 26 Branford Marsalis and the CSO The CSO goes all saxophone with Branford Marsalis and works by those three stooges Shostakovich, Glazunov,......

What Chicagoist loves about David Sedaris is that the stories of his messed up childhood and family not only make us laugh hysterically, but they make us feel like ours aren't really that bad. We've read most everything David has written - his books, his Slate diary, his Esquire articles, we even love Dave's brother's website and the fact that Dave's sister makes cupcakes and sells them in NYC. We're crazy for everything Sedaris. Chicagoist......