oetry–sadly the bastard child of the publishing industry these days–has a place close to my heart. As a longtime poet (since 2nd grade!) and an MA degree holder in English literature with a specialization in poetry, I feel qualified to adjudicate a book on the study and appreciation of the art. In addition to reading lots of poetry (most recently in the form of Poetry Magazine), I’ve also read quite a few books on the study of poetry and poetry scholarship–and usually, they’re all pretty terrible.

Normally, when I read a book about poetry, rather than a book of poems, it’s bad. It’s always way too teachy, too middle-school-humanities class, too–dare I say it–boring. I’ve always loved poetry, but I’ve rarely even liked reading books about poetry. Thankfully, Chicago publisher Rose Metal Press’ new book Field Guide to Prose Poetry is unlike most other books in this vein in that it’s good, very good.

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ragic and inspiring, the story of fifteen-year-old Hadiya living and blogging in Mosul, Iraq is presented in print form by Haymarket Books, Chicago’s own progressive and nonprofit book publisher.  IraqiGirl is a series of edited—for grammar—blog posts from Hadiya as she attempts to make sense of what is happening in native country.   As an American reader, I was intrigued to read the details of her and her family’s lives as they attempted to live in a war torn country.

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’ve never owned a car, and I can happily say that being carless in Chicago has been a much easier experience than anywhere else I’ve lived.  For this reason, I was delighted to find a copy of Carless in Chicago by Jason Rothstein, published by Chicago publisher Lake Claremont Press, on my doorstep.  If you’re currently carless or thinking about giving up your car for good, this book will prove to be an invaluable resource for getting around in Chicago.

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ancy Friday’s Beyond My Control is a follow-up to her groundbreaking 1973 book My Secret Garden, which detailed real women’s sexual fantasies that they had shared with the author through letters and video-recorded interviews. My Secret Garden was a groundbreaking book at the time, though today you might find an average issue of Cosmopolitan to be more risqué. Its depictions of female sexual fantasies, which included rape, lesbian sex, and extremely explicit and specific desires, served to prove both that women have fantasies, and that their fantasies are just as colorful, intricate, and transgressive as male sexual fantasies. As mundane as this idea may appear today, it was both liberating and eye-opening at the time of its debut. Thirty years after its publication, Beyond My Control picks up where it left off.

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his book isn’t necessarily as stuffy as its title and premise make it out to be. It is, however, erudite throughout, even as it meanders away from what might be considered the thesis down long diatribes about interesting, if only-connected-by-gossamer-threads, side topics. It’s an unusual and intriguing ride, and one bolstered by the author’s unique voice. Honestly, even at the pace with which I coast through a book, I often end up feeling as though I wasted the effort of flicking my eyes from left to right across the page of one as dense as this one–but not so with this particular offering. If you have any interest in the topic at all, the intriguing voice of the author will cart you through the book as long as you’re open to some divergence in motif.

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“Even in Chicago, a city steeped in mob history and legend, the Family Secrets case was a true spectacle when it made it to court in 2007. A top mob boss, a reputed consigliere, and other high-profile members of the Chicago Outfit were accused in a total of eighteen gangland killings, revealing organized crime’s ruthless grip on the city throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

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“This book is the first in English to consider women’s movements and feminist discourses in twentieth-century Taiwan. Doris T. Chang examines the way in which Taiwanese women in the twentieth century selectively appropriated Western feminist theories to meet their needs in a modernizing Confucian culture. She illustrates the rise and fall of women’s movements against the historical backdrop of the island’s contested national identities, first vis-à-vis imperial Japan (1895-1945) and later with postwar China (1945-2000).

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“Over the past thirty years, visionary anthropologist Michael Taussig has crafted a highly distinctive body of work. Playful, enthralling, and whip-smart, his writing makes ingenious connections between ideas, thinkers, and things. An extended meditation on the mysteries of color and the fascination they provoke, What Color Is the Sacred? is the next step on Taussig’s remarkable intellectual path.

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“Nobody knows the game of golf like a caddie. The long-shot dreams, jaw-dropping victories, and soul-crushing defeats—the caddie sees it all. Rarely receiving credit when things go right and frequently taking the blame when things go wrong, caddies are the invisible backbone of the game. Behind every top 10 finish, every Tour championship, and every missed cut, there is a guy pulling clubs for his pro. For decades, these ‘loopers’ were viewed as second-class citizens, often staying five (or more) to a room in dive motels. It was a job reserved for alcoholics, drug addicts, and high school dropouts. Not anymore.

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“Thirty-five years ago, Nancy Friday became one of history’s most controversial figures and helped launch the sexual revolution with the groundbreaking mega-bestseller, My Secret Garden, exploring for the first time in the public arena the true nature of women’s sexual fantasies.

“The revolutionary and renowned journalist is now releasing Beyond My Control: Forbidden Fantasies in an Uncensored Age, the much anticipated follow-up to My Secret Garden that reveals the next level of sexual fantasy as it exists today for both men and women: the forbidden, the unmentionable, the controversial.

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“The need for accurate reporting on the situation in Iraq continues as the world’s major media shift their focus to the “other” U.S. occupation in Afghanistan. Courageous independent journalists have shed light on many of the major events and turning-points under-reported or entirely ignored by big media outlets. Yet the day to day reality of life under occupation remains difficult to understand for many in America.

“For several crucial months in 2004, a young Iraqi woman, calling herself H.N.K. dispatched moving and engaging descriptions of her life in Mosul through her blog, IraqiGirlBlog. ¶ View In Entirety… ⇒

“Not only is Radiohead the most innovative and influential rock band—it’s also the most philosophically and culturally relevant. Since the 1993 breakthrough hit ‘Creep,’ the band keeps on making waves, with its view of the Bush presidency (Hail to the Thief), its anti-corporatism, its ecologically conscious road tours, its videos, and its decision to sell In Rainbows online at a ‘pay whatever you want’ price. Composed by a team of Radiohead fans who also think for a living, Radiohead and Philosophy is packt like a crushd tin box with insights into the meaning and implications of Radiohead’s work. Paranoid or not, you’ll understand Radiohead better than any android.”

–from the publisher’s site

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“Simply put, Family Affair answers the question, “What does it means to be black in America today?” Through personal stories and essays, Family Affair cleaves through the physical, social, political and historical characteristics that have come to define the African-American community in the 21st century.

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“Unless you live in a haunted house, the eyes on your paintings probably don’t follow you around. However, with a couple of motion sensors, two motors, a few transistors, resistors, diodes, and wires you can convert a Van Gogh print into a macabre masterpiece with a mind of its own. Haywired proves that science can inspire odd contraptions. Create a Mona Lisa that smiles even wider when you approach it. Learn how to build and record a talking alarm, or craft your own talking greeting card. Construct a no-battery electric car toy that uses a super capacitor, or a flashlight that can be charged in minutes, then shine for 24 hours. Written for budding electronics hobbyists, author Mike Rigsby offers helpful hints on soldering, wire wrapping, and multimeter use. Each project is described in step-by-step detail with photographs and circuit diagrams. Includes Web sites listing suppliers and part numbers.”

-from the publisher’s site

“‘Nobody sings like Melba, and nobody ever will,’ proclaimed the impresario Oscar Hammerstein in 1908. Like many others of his time, he considered her the world’s greatest singer. The wild acclaim showered on her by American fans led to the coining of the word ‘Melbamania.’ Year after year she toured America on the ‘Melba’ train, bringing opera and concerts to out-of-the-way cities and towns; thanks to the new gramophone, she could also be heard in the remotest locales. Ann Blainey’s beguiling life of Nellie Melba tells the story of a woman who-in an era when no woman was prime minister, chief justice, head of a church or financial firm, or a universal film star-became perhaps the most famous woman in the world.

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“What fans don’t love to relive the good times of their favorite team? Likewise, in a twisted sort of way, what fans can really resist a self-pitying look back on some of those times that tested their allegiance? Those disastrous games, seasons, and plays that made the good times even better?

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“When a self-proclaimed “lazy scholar” embarks on a trip through his life’s influences–as diverse as girl-group doo-wop, Yeats, and Van Gogh–readers are in for an illuminating ride. This collection of essays from cultural critic Di Piero veers from his early years as the son of immigrants in Philadelphia to his working life in art, film, music, and poetry. Along with a few choice essays reprinted from out-of-print collections, Di Piero’s new work shows him to be insightful about himself and his work despite his protestations against the “boosterism” of autobiography.

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“Each year writers and editors submit over three thousand grammar and style questions to the Q&A page at The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Some are arcane, some simply hilarious—and one editor, Carol Fisher Saller, reads every single one of them. All too often she notes a classic author-editor standoff, wherein both parties refuse to compromise on the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of prose styling: ‘This author is giving me a fit.’ ‘I wish that I could just DEMAND the use of the serial comma at all times.’ ‘My author wants his preface to come at the end of the book. This just seems ridiculous to me. I mean, it’s not a post-face.’

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