File this under "good ideas, bad execution." Designer Robert Brindle conceived the idea of an indoor amusement park and shopping mall after a visit to Knott's Berry Farm. Brindle's concept was a turn of the century design inside the park, with mom-and-pop stores anchoring the shopping mall instead of the brand name stores normally found in shopping malls. more ›

We had the good fortune recently to speak with Barry Gifford, one of our favorite contemporary authors. His newest book is Memories from a Sinking Ship, a "fictional memoir" about growing up in mid-fifties Chicago (and Key West and New Orleans). Roy is a youngster shuttled from place to place, alternating between his beautiful, vivacious mother and his estranged, gangster father. For a sizeable chunk of the book he lives at 6312 N. Rockwell, and the story is packed with fascinating details about a vanished Chicago: going to movies at the Nortown Theater on Western or hanging out at Lucky's El Paso pool hall. more ›