Not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but... One look at The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne, told me to make an exception to that rule. You can see the picture for yourself. Something about that black crow staring at that snubbed-out ciga…
There’s a devilish twist near the end of Colored Television–Danzy Senna’s latest novel– that is especially delightful because I didn’t see it coming. Until Senna made it happen. At which point, I exclaimed–yes, o…
Generally, I’m not an avid reader of nonfiction, but I’ve made an exception for Julie K. Brown’s book, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story. I’ve now read it twice. Once in 2021, when it was published. And again …
Making my way through an article about Chicago's broke-ass public schools, when I confronted a sentence guaranteed to trigger me. As if a city perpetually skimping on public education wasn’t triggering enough. It came in an article jointly w…
I figured it was only a matter of time before some mainstream journalist invoked the specter of Communism to scare the shit out of New Yorkers into voting against the Z man. Sure enough, right on cue, Kathleen Parker, columnist for the Washington P…
If you haven’t read a novel by Jess Walter–what you waiting for? Hurry up–start reading! What a great writer. So much fun to read—with the rare ability to make you laugh on one page and cry on the next. Plus, he employs thi…
It's early to give out this year's acting awards, but I think the best performance in a melodrama goes to Alex Jones, the conspiracy huckster, who managed to squeeze out a crocodile tear over the latest twist in the sordid saga of Jeffrey Epstein. …
In the immediate aftermath of the Z-man’s victory, I was basking in a good-vibe glow, feeling optimistic about the future. A fairly rare, almost unrecognizable feeling these day. For all the obvious reasons. Then my dear friend Mick Dumke--a…
Several months have passed, but I can still hear the excitement in Cap’s voice as he broke the big news. Sarah Hanahan is coming to the Jazz Showcase–playing with Joe Farnsworth’s band. Are you in? Am I in? Is the Pope from Dolto…
If MAGA's minions were honest, they’d admit that their war against California is obviously motivated by hate. I mean, duh! They loudly hate pretty much everybody on the other side of Trump's invasion of Los Angeles. They hate the lefti…
If I were to teach a high-school class in literature, I’d use page 42 of a recent Sun-Times as a textbook example of irony. On that page, gently resting side by side, are articles whose themes contradict each other. How ironic. I’m won…
With all the human carnage and cruelty in the world every day, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit how broken up I’ve been over the recent death of Bear--our family dog. A Pit bull. Died unexpectedly at age 10. My oldest daughter broke me th…
The story you’re about to read is true–none of the names have been changed to protect the innocent, though they’re all spelled correctly. I hope... After a grueling day of podcasting, I take a walk to clear my head and think great…
Don’t know what I was doing back in 1999 that kept me from reading My Kitchen Wars. That's the year it came out–a memoir by Betty Fussell, best known as a food writer. So I probably wouldn’t have read it, even if I had heard about …
Around here everyone’s making a big deal out of the fact that the new pope comes from Chicago. Or Dolton–a suburb just south of Chicago. So, close enough... But I have my own personal big deal to make out of Cardinal Robert Francis Prev…
Sad news out of Chicago--the great Mike Miner, writer/edit for the Reader, died the other day. Age 81--natural causes. He had a fascinating life. Navy veteran. Former Sun-Times reporter. Dispatched stories from Saigon at the end of the Vietna…
I have a secret to confess. It has to do with Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor's absolutely fantastic novel that I urge you to read–if you’re not intimidated by long books. And even if you are--c'mon, get over that! It tells the stor…
Gotta give The New York Times credit for devoting a healthy chunk of space to the life and work of Leonard Zeskind, who died the other day of cancer. At age 75--too damn young, as far as I’m concerned. Zeskind’s expertise was the right…
I didn’t think I’d like Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles nearly this much, when I checked it out of the library. Not even sure how I heard about it–probably a mention in The New York Times. Sounded like a fun r…
It was my father, of guy all people, who turned me on to the novels of Kate DiCamillo. This was in the early 00s—the beginning of the end-stretch of his life. By then he'd bought into everything that Kate DiCamillo’s characters fight a…
It's unnecessary, I know, to give more attention to Michael Connelly, whose books are instant best sellers. But I must show some love for his latest, The Waiting. Which had me up all night and into the morning, reading. Yes, I read past midnight. …
To take a break from the political madness of our time, I was reading Maximum Bob, an old Elmore Leonard novel I found in a baby library not far from my home. Classic Leonard. About a bunch of lowlifes in Florida, where lowlifes flourish, who're co…
My dear friend Keith Kelleher is a vintage radical, who’s been on the front lines of just about every cause worth fighting for since I can remember. So I wasn’t surprised to see he’d joined this weekend's march outside of Tesla&rs…
Jackson Park by Charlotte Carter is a run-don’t-walk-to-read novel if you love the following… Riveting mysteries with twist endings… Compelling first-person narratives by likeable characters–-in this case, Cassandra, a 20…