ohn Freeman, the new american editor of Granta, Cambridge University-based literary magazine, recently announced in an interview that their next issue will be covering the Windy City.  Since Granta is known for publishing famous authors, you’re probably wondering who’s in it.  Freeman dropped a few names:  Aleksandar Hemon, well-known Chicago author who was recently seen at the Cultural Center’s dialogue with Jacob Weisburg on the future of the novel; Don DeLillo, and Hisham Matar (celebrated, but no Chicago authors).  You can look for the issue to hit newstands in the Fall of 2009.

he Parlor, a website featuring monthly online readings from famous authors, gave Chicago author Joe Meno the mic this month. His latest book, The Great Perhaps has won a lot of acclaim from critics. You can visit The Parlor to hear the full reading.

just stumbled across a rather interesting article by Julia Keller over at the Tribune about location in literature.  In her estimation, location plays a key role in shaping a body of literature and in attracting readers.  We Chicagoans, she says, love to see our city as the central location of a novel.

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n a lengthly review, the Sun-Times examines first-time author and new Chicagoan Andrew Grant’s recently released book Even.  The article actually seems to be more of a review of the author’s life than of his novel, though it still gives an interesting look at the super-hero style adventure.

veryone knows Chicago is a hot spot for crime–just look at the police records. Chicago author Theresa Schwegel’s 4th book examines a part of the crime culture in the Windy City, focusing on a serial rapist and a young female detective. The Tribune has a full review of the book, set for release on July 7th, published by St. Martin’s Minotaur (not a Chicago publisher).

was lucky enough to attend the Chicago Book Clinic’s “University,” a.k.a. day-long seminar, this week.  The meeting was in Glenview and was comprised of five different seminars and lectures that had to do with publishing (in various ways).  The event was in Glenview, so I hopped the Metra, walked through a bit of suburbia (where they apparently don’t believe in sidewalks) to get there. ¶ View In Entirety… ⇒

hat’s going on this weekend? We’re glad you asked.

Kristy Bowen of Dancing Girl Press is sponsoring a reading, a.k.a. salon, featuring Kathleen Rooney, Carol Guess, and  Switchback’s Brandi Hamon.  Details:  Saturday, June 27th, 2 p.m., 410 S. Michigan, Studio 921

Lumpen, sister of Proximity, is celebrating 18 years of publishing with a partay.  You can have Korean BBQ, pick up their 112th issue, and listen to a bunch of one (wo)man bands.  Apparently there will be surprise performances.  Enticing.  Details:  Friday, June 26th, 8 p.m., Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S Morgan Street, $5

If that doesn’t sound appealing, maybe you’d like to try out Hannah Andrew and Carol Guess (once again) reading for Switchback books.  Details:  Friday, June 26th, 7:30 p.m., Women and Children First 5233 N. Clark Street

esterday, Gapers Block made a post about Ewan Morrison’s list of the top ten literary threesomes.  Apparently the list contained two Chicago author’s books.  The Volcano Lover by Susan Sontag, a University of Chicago Alum, came in at #7 while Ernest Hemingway took the cake with The Garden of Eden placed at #1.  Apparently he was born in Oak Park.  (I should brush up on my Hemingway trivia, I ’spose).  Anyway, today I was rereading the post and discovered that a comment that asked the simple question, “what makes an author a Chicago author?” The commenter, Pete, found it ridiculous to call these two Chicago authors based solely on their limited experiences with/in the city.

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amed historical publisher Arcadia recently announced that is has teamed up with electronic publisher Alexander Street to create a website that collects images and texts from across the U.S. and Canada and displays them in a searchable database.  The site is called Local and Regional History of American Life in Images and Texts and can be found at lrho.alexanderstreet.com.  You can read the full press release at Publishers Weekly.

r at least comicbook.com does.  They call Barack the Barbarian, Devil’s Due’s hit comic that depicts *ahem* President Obama’s adventures on “the Quest for the Treasure of Stimuli,” a #1 Hilarious Adventure.  Overall, they loved the comic, noting that in addition to being a rollicking good time, the artwork is executed nicely. They do note that the comic can be too heavy-handed at times, but overall the review is quite positive.

ust another quick highlight on Chicago superstar Luis Urrea: his newest book Into the Beautiful north has a review on Bookslut. Their verdict? The book is a magical adventure. “Urrea simultaneously explicates the seriousness of Mexican-US immigration while drolly narrating a Wizard of Oz-like circular fairy tale.”

he Horrid Henry series is for children, and each book contains four short stories with illustrations by Tony Ross. Horrid Henry is a little boy who is constantly getting into trouble, and can’t seem to get along with anyone around him. I got the chance to read four of Simon’s books, which equaled twenty-eight short stories about Henry attempting to get what he wants, often by throwing tantrums and exasperating his parents and friends. ¶ View In Entirety… ⇒

oe Meno, Dave Reidy, and Aleksandar Hemon have all had reviews of their books in newspapers or blogs this week.  The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno received a glowing review from the Chicago Tribune in last Sunday’s book section (which is woefully not available online) and a mention in this week’s New York Times Book Review. Dave Reidy’s new book Captive Audience was featured in the Chicago Sun-Times book section.  Interested readers should check out his book release party on June 27th at The Darkroom.  Finally, Aleksandar Hemon’s debut novel was reviewed over at Gaper’s Block.  I find the review refreshing–it’s more critical than celebretory, though not overly negative.  Gaper’s Block is often quite good at walking that line.

success has occurred in the continuing saga of parents trying to ban books they find too risque from schools.  Antioch Community High School has decided to keep Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on it’s required summer reading list for its 400 incoming freshmen. Parents have complained about the book containing bad language and frequent mentions of masturbation (which is, as Michael Shaub over at Bookslut said, “a practice which God knows no 14-year-old is familiar with”).

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oug Fogelson, founder of Front 40 Press, weighs in on global warming in his new book The time After.  Front 40 specializes in coffee table style art books, and The Time After is no exception.  The book is a labor of love completed after many years of contemplation.  Fogelson uses his photography to explore global warming and climate change in an artistic way.  Head to Time Out Chicago for the full interview and review, or stay tuned for our review of The Time After, which will be coming soon.

hat’re you up to next Wednesday?  If you’re free, you might want to check out the “Change and Adaptability”  seminar being put on by Chicago Book Clinic.  For $35 (if you pre-register) you’ll be able to attend an all day seminar with various speakers from all over the industry, including Dominique Raccah, founder of Sourcebooks.  If you’re at all interested in the Chicago publishing industry (and lets face it, would you be reading this blog if you weren’t?) give the event’s brochure a looksee.  The only frustration to be had is the events location:  1900 E. Lake Avenue, Glenview.  Why is a seminar on publishing in Chicago is happening outside of Chicago?  I don’t know, but there’s always the metra.

started out wanting to dislike Bitchin’ Bodies:  Young Women Talk about Body Dissatisfaction.  Why?  Because I’ve read a lot of books on this topic, and I’ve noticed an overwhelming trend in all of them:  a lot of bitching without a lot of action.  Let’s take a moment for me to flesh that out a bit.

Within the subject of women’s studies, there is a huge amount of literature devoted to women’s perceptions of their bodies, and society’s representations of women’s bodies.  Naturally, in the skinny-obsessed culture that we live in, a lot of this literature is simply angry noise about how unfair it is that women are expected to be thin to be beautiful.  You hear the statistic thrown around constantly that all women are expected to look like what only 5% of women actually look like in order to be beautiful.  This literature will often result in a lot of male stereotyping and finger pointing, without proposing solutions or examining the problem.  I was worried that Bitchin’ Bodies was going to be like this, from the title if nothing else, but instead I was pleasantly surprised.
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ill Ott over at Booklist would like to know.  The latest issue of Booklist features a rather challenging quiz on its back page that asks the quizee to match 26 different Chicago authors to the books they wrote and the Chicago location that plays a significant role in each book.  This one’s a toughy.  If you’re too anxious to test your knowledge to wait until you get your hands on a copy (Lord knows I was), you can download the PDF.