Chicago Newcity | Books | AAN.org

David Sedaris Has a Midlife Crisisnew

As we transition from talking about friends' houses where you could get high until four in the morning to the pitfalls of fatal elderly falls, it's evident that Sedaris' beloved sense of humor leaves him, and us, with many more years of good storytelling.

Chicago Newcity | Selena Fragassi | 10-08-2008 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Brian Azzarello's '100 Bullets' Comic Coming to an Endnew

The awe-inspiring creation will end its decade-long run after just seven more issues. Since its inception, the stars have aligned to enable Azzarello's labyrinthine revenge/noir series to evolve into one of the most memorable comics in recent years.

Chicago Newcity | Michael Moreci | 08-27-2008 | Books

Tags: comics, 100 Bullets, Brian Azzarello

Stephanie Kuehnert on Her Debut Novel, 'I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone'new

Everyone wants to be a rock star. Kuehnert’s protagonist and narrator, Emily Black, is no different. Living in a tiny town in Wisconsin, left alone with her father as an infant when her mother hit the road following her own rock-star dreams, Emily's now your favorite teenager, much cooler than you were when you were there, the dark hair, the red lipstick and the witty asides and retorts all part of the angst-ridden fireball.

Chicago Newcity | Tom Lynch | 07-02-2008 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: punk rock, Fiction Reviews, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, MTV Books, Stephanie Kuehnert

Venn and the Art of Internet Bloggingnew

Jessica Hagy gets her work Indexed.

Chicago Newcity | Laura Castellano | 03-12-2008 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Indexed, Jessica Hagy

Elizabeth Crane's Optimism is Infectiousnew

The author's optimism, she says, comes partly from teaching at "fine schools" (including the University of Chicago and Northwestern) from her recent successes as a writer, and from the solid relationship she has with her husband.

Chicago Newcity | Laura Castellano | 02-06-2008 | Original Work

Tags: Elizabeth Crane, You Must Be This Happy To Enter

Sense Of Intimacy Prevailsnew

A unique sense of intimacy prevails in Pauline Chen’s first book, Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality. In this engrossing memoir, full of surgical detail, Chen, recipient of the George Longstreth Humanness Award at Yale, meditates on her experiences as a student and physician

Chicago Newcity | Laura Castellano | 01-30-2008 | Nonfiction

Tags: Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality, Pauline Chen, Nonfiction Reviews

'Yalo' Looks at War Crimesnew

What is more damaging to a storyteller's accuracy -- time or torture? Here is the heart of Elias Khoury's mesmerizing new novel, in which a young man is arrested at the end of the Lebanese Civil War and charged with rape, robbery and collaboration.

Chicago Newcity | John Freeman | 01-23-2008 | Fiction

Tags: Elias Khoury, Yalo, Fiction Reviews

Anne Elizabeth Moore Charts an 'Unmarketable' Pathnew

Her latest book is a terrific, jarring and informed account of underground culture's infiltration by the corporate world.

Chicago Newcity | Tom Lynch | 10-31-2007 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Anne Elizabeth Moore, Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity

'Loving Frank': Wright & Wrongnew

Nancy Horan recounts how horrific murders and a scandalous affair keep the legacy of America's favorite architect churning in her new historical fiction.

Chicago Newcity | Tom Lynch | 08-15-2007 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Loving Frank, Nancy Horan

The 'Silk Road' Has Dark Shadowsnew

While central Asia enters its biggest changes in what might be a millennium, Thubron decided to re-travel the pathway by which silk once moved, from China, across Afghanistan, across Iran and into Turkey, and from there the wider world.

Chicago Newcity | John Freeman | 08-08-2007 | Nonfiction

Tags: Colin Thubron, Shadow of the Silk Road, Nonfiction Reviews