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But Northwestern Writer-in-Residence Stuart Dybek isn't. The lucky Pilsen native received "the call" yesterday informing him that he was named a 2007 MacArthur Fellow, aka "genius grant" recipient; the fellowship comes with a $500,000 prize that Dybek can use for whatever he likes, no strings attached. "I think 'stunned' is not too strong a word to use. It came so out of the blue," Dybek told the Trib. "They do this stuff with such perfect... more ›

The Coast Guard is planning to create 34 live-fire training zones in the Great Lakes that could discharge over 400,000 lead and copper bullets into the waters. This would amount to more lead dumped in the water than the entire state of Michigan dumps in a year, even after the gunfire from Detroit celebrating the Tigers reaching the World Series. more ›

One of the coolest things we love about The Lookingglass Theatre Company, besides its stage adaptation of Stuart Dybek’s The Coast of Chicago, is its new literary series Writers on Record. Every month or so, Victoria Lautman, a contributor at WBEZ, interviews authors in a free event at the still-newish Lookingglass space in the Water Tower. This month, Lautman will host Margo Jefferson to discuss her book On Michael Jackson. Jefferson, a Chicago native, is... more ›

James Frey discovered the glare of the Oprah’s Book Club spotlight isn’t always wine and roses. But Elie Wiesel and his haunting memoir Night, which Oprah selected for the next Book Club reading, isn’t likely to see the same fate. Wiesel's chilling account of life in a Nazi concentration camp and subsequent aftermath has stood up to 50 years of scrutiny. And anyone who suggests the Nobel Peace Prize winner embellished his story risks becoming... more ›

Stuart Dybek, Author more ›

The title pretty much says it all, folks. Enter here for your chance to win a whopping 3 swell books from Picador. The free shipping alone is worth the win--and you get books! Nice, solid, long books that you really won't want to end. You have until 3 PM today. Winners only will be notified by email. You need not win a contest, though, to see authors James McManus, Stuart Dybek, and Jeffrey Eugenides... more ›

Chicagoist hopes you love the Elephant 6 bands as much as we do. After all, any music collective that includes Elf Power, Circulatory System, The Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, and Neutral Milk Hotel is just plain awesome. Beulah is another band from the group, lesser known but equally talented. On fantastic albums like When Your Heartstrings Break and The Coast is Never Clear, they play some of the most maddeningly catchy pop music this side of The New Pornographers. (Listen for songs like "A Good Man is Easy to Kill" on a car commercial near you.) Recently, in the wake of nearly every band member breaking up with their spouse or significant other, Beulah threatened to quit if their latest album – the dark but lovely Yoko – didn't go gold. (And as good as that album is, guys, you were born a few decades too late for that to happen.) So go see them before they decide to disband, this Friday and/or Saturday at the Abbey Pub. Chicagoist saw them last fall at New York’s Bowery Ballroom and can verify they put on a good show.
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