As a young Boy Scout Art originally wanted to be a drummer before a shiny bugle changed his life completely. more ›

If you're a Grant Achatz groupie, or a fan of chef memoirs, mosey on over to your favorite book-ordering location and order "Life, on the Line: A Chef's Story of Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way we Eat." Only short excerpts are available, but go read them anyway - stories of the moment Ruth Reichl told Achatz that Alinea was #1, of the day he realized he had cancer and his tryout for Thomas Keller at the French Laundry. It's unlikely that this will be as lurid as Kitchen Confidential, but we think it might be one of the most touching and informative culinary stories ever told. more ›

Spike Lee's intense 1989 film Do the Right Thing was a seminal achievement. An ambitious, aggressive, stark look at American race relations and how we approach or ignore them until they reach a breaking point, Do the Right Thing has informed Lee's work ever since, for better or worse. When Lee's on, his films match the level set by "DTRT" (Crooklyn, Malcolm X). When he's not, his films suffer (Bamboozled) more ›

It was a busy weekend while you were hopefully outside enjoying the fresh air. Here's what you might have missed. more ›

In what is definitely a long time coming, Roger Ebert confirmed this week that he's currently at work on his memoir. The as yet untitled book is tentatively due out in fall 2011, said Grand Central Publishing executive editor, Mitch Hoffman, to the Chicago Sun-Times. "Yep, I'm writing the book," Ebert said to the Sun-Times, "but I'm not talking about it. I didn't make that announcement. I subscribe to the old theatrical maxim: Don't leave it in rehearsal." The book will reportedly cover Ebert's battle with thyroid cancer, his friendship with Gene Siskel, and perhaps even his claim that video games aren't art.
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Now that former controlling shareholder of the Sun-Times Lord Black of Crossharbour is in jail for fraud and obstruction of justice, it seems he has discovered valuable ways to spend his time. The jailed media magnate is currently writing a memoir, The Fight of My Life, slated for an October release. The book will pick up where his last memoir, A Life In Progress (1993), left off. more ›

Chicago writer Jen Lancaster is back with her third memoir, Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big; Or, Why Pie Is Not the Answer, which hits bookshelves across the nation today. To celebrate the launch, the author kicks off her book tour in our hometown, making a book signing appearance tonight at Barnes & Noble in Lincoln Park. more ›