The calendar on the wall says it's 2026, and yet I keep thinking I've gone back in time to 1984. That’s cause my beloved Bulls have a rookie who reminds me of--dare I say what I'm about to say? No, I can't. Seems too soon. Scared I'll jinx that ro…
On the road west, we tangent through the mountains outside Tucson, settling in a lodge that bills itself as a sanctuary for bird watchers. As such, the place's crawling with people, quietly scanning the horizon, binoculars out. It’s my first enco…
It only took over 50 years, but I finally got around to reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem--Joan Didion's iconic essay. Not sure why I didn't read it earlier. It's a classic of New Journalism, a style of non-fiction where the writers put themselv…
In 1996, a magazine writer named Mark Singer got an assignment from his boss that he didn't want to do. Hang around with Donald Trump and write a story about it. I don't blame him for not wanting to hang around with Trump or write about him. Till …
Took me awhile to find my way to John Banville, the great Irish novelist. But find him I did, and now I’m hooked. In the last two months, I've read three of his novels and got a fourth on the way, on order from the library. It’s like fried chicken—…
A few days ago, my wife and I took off for California by way of Iowa, Nebraska and Arizona--by car. Yes, a real road trip. And before I left, I reminded myself... Benny, old, boy--it's a big country out there, and you'll be driving through MAGA la…
I've been writing and thinking about Chicago politics for so long that just about everything I see in politics reminds me of something I've already seen in Chicago. But sometimes Chicago fools me. Sometimes I'll see something in Chicago and think--…
As the self-appointed bridge between those who are addicted to sports and those who know nothing about it, I feel compelled to update the know-nothings about the latest brouhaha gripping Chicago's baseball world. So here goes... First, the name. …
Sad to say, I missed out on the children's poetry by Shel Silverstein--I was born too early. By the time Where the Sidewalk Ends, his first poetry collection, was published, I was almost out of my teens. Too old for such things. That was in 1974.…
The time has come for me to pay homage to the man who knows everything--Dwight Garner, book reviewer extraordinaire for the New York Times. One of my favorite Sunday morning moments occurs when, book review section in hand, I flop on the couch to r…
Kin is one of those novels whose characters are more interesting than its plot. And that's not a backhanded compliment. At least, coming from me. Plots are overrated. They come and go--easily forgotten. But great characters live forever. And the …
Went to the White Sox game the other day. Took the train. On the way, I broke out a paperback--Demon Copperfield by Barbara Kingsolver. Great read. Love reading on the subway. Makes the trip fly. Before you know it, the voice on the speaker’s sayi…
The strange saga of John Phelan's recently aborted reign as secretary of the Navy is one of those Trump-era political stories that's so preposterous it's easy to think it’s fake. Unfortunately, it’s all too real. Please, follow. I'll streamline a…
I want to begin this book report by apologizing to all my friends whose calls I ignored last weekend. Sorry, but I was preoccupied. Racing through the last 70 or so riveting pages of The Doorman, Chris Pavone's latest novel. I couldn't put it down…
Let me interrupt the horrors of Trump’s war against Iran to remind you of some good news that may have been lost amid the bombing. He fired Pam Bondi. Well, that’s not really the good news. The good news is why he fired her. Specifically… He fir…
As the man on the podcasting mic, I'm compelled to wade in on any rip-roaring controversy--especially the one involving Caleb, Skip, George & Jerry. So here goes... Caleb Williams is the sensational, young quarterback, who led my beloved Bears to …
In a sign of the insanity of our political times, the solar and wind-mill crowd in Texas has decided to advance its clean-energy cause by getting behind an oil-and-gas guy for attorney general. I know, that makes about as much sense as anything in …
There's a tiny street in Michigan--near a VA hospital in Battle Creek--named for Dwight "Skip" Johnson. I think I'll go there one day. To pay my respects to a good man killed by his country. Not literally. In actuality, Johnson was shot dead by a …
When I was but a wee lad--young and fresh and new to town--Mayor Harold Washington enthralled me with his amazing ability to effortlessly throw around big-time words and phrases that sent me to the dictionary. Now that I'm an old dog, it's New York…
Ironically, I happened upon the obituary for Colman McCarthy as Trump and Netanyahu dropped their bombs on Iran. I’ll get to the irony—but first, a few words about McCarthy. He was a journalist for the Washington Post—wrote a column on politics f…
I finished World Pacific--Peter Mann's latest novel--in a glorious burst of reading at 8 in the morning, having been up almost all night. Couldn't sleep--just had to keep reading. And when I closed the book, I thought... What was that all about? W…
For the last few days, reporters have been desperately searching for a logical explanation as to why Trump would do something so illogical as start a war with Iran. It's a challenging mission cause there's no logical explanation other than the one …
I know from my own experiences that every family has it secrets, but the secrets revealed by Christine Kuehn in her gripping family memoir are--well, I mean... Let's just let them speak for themselves. And keep in mind as you’re reading this—Chris…
If I had a pantheon of super-smart lefties who influenced my life, Noam Chomsky would be right up there with Kurt Vonnegut. I loved Vonnegut's books. Still read Slaughterhouse Five from time to time. Vonnegut could reduce the atrocious hypocrisies…