I just penned a book review for Make Literary Magazine on Bruce Boone’s poetic/New Narrative memoir “Century of Clouds.” It was lovely to swim around in the wonderfully obtuse, digressive book for a few hours this winter and I know so much more now than I did before about the New Narrative group. Century of Clouds is a reissue and an important staple of the New Narrative writers.
I wrote a new piece on Jean Shepherd, radio raconteur and famed for “A Christmas Story,” for the Chicagoan, a “new nonprofit media organization whose mission is to document the arts and culture history of Chicago and the greater Midwest with an emphasis on long-form storytelling.” Please note the beautiful illustration by Chicago artist Rob Funderburk. I’m so excited about this promising new project, and what a great excuse for me to wax poetic about my love/hate relationship with Shepherd, who was also born and raised in Hammond, IN.
I co-founded this literary website in 2007. [for full list of posts, click here.]
“Meno promptly injected Redmoon’s aesthetic with his particular brand of unsentimental yet pathos-laden humor, creating a modern fairy tale about Emily, a lonely and lost girl living in a tenement in the 1920s. After realizing she can speak to and understand the chirping of birds, her loneliness is eased. [for full article, click here.]” February 13, 2007.
“Written by Melinda Lopez and directed by Steppenwolf associate artist Jessica Thebus, “Sonia Flew” brilliantly illustrates the ways that immigrants must partially forget their pasts in order to start anew in their adopted country. [for full article, click here.]“
“If you’re broke or simply looking for an alternative to the standard bar or hotel New Year’s “bash” — which is, let’s face it, usually overrated — Venus is at your rescue with some creative alternatives for welcoming 2006. [for full article, click here.]” December 1, 2006
“John Lennon once described New York as the center of the universe, saying that, “If I was living in the time of Rome, I’d go to Rome. But I’m living now, so I’ll be in New York.” Freelance work being a bit slow in Chicago right now, I had this in mind when I hopped a red-eye to NYC to visit a pal.
We got $2 sandwiches at the deli on the corner in her Brooklyn ‘hood, then hopped on the train to McCarren Park Pool where Joanna Newsom and Martha Wainwright were playing a 6 p.m. show headlined by the superb Neko Case. [for full article, click here.]” September 1, 2006.
“Girly takes place mainly in rural Pennsylvania, and depicts the unfolding of events in several women’s lives, most primarily the lives of the Hart family women, made up of Racinda Hart, her psychologically damaged sister Ruth, and out-of-it mother Amandine, who became a born again Christian when Racinda was a baby. [for full article, click here.]” January 15, 2006.
“Ladyfest organizers as a whole are a determined lot with an idealistic focus and an overabundance of energy. They also are uniquely open-minded about their attendees and welcome all genders. [for full article, click here.]” November 23, 2005.
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Known for her heartbreak-y tunes and melancholy, wistful lyrics, Frost is used to fielding questions from journalists about her relationships. She’s matter-of-fact about a recent breakup on her massive blog, edithfrost.com, and a recent post expresses frustration that her relationship status gets so much attention. [for full article, click here.]” November 23, 2005.
“Her onstage quirks have become almost legendary, with tales of her ending songs in mid-sentence, walking off of the stage, or as one rumor goes, playing a four-hour show because she was waiting for the crowd to disperse so that she wouldn’t have to interact with anyone. [for full article, click here.]” October 17, 2005.
“The first half of the film is made up of Cash’s childhood and simple country boy-beginnings, his first pangs of the music bug and gospel roots, and marriage to wife Vivian Liberto Distin, mother to four of Cash’s five children.
But make no mistake about it, his meeting and decade-long flirtation with June Carter of country music royalty the Carter Family is the real focus here. [for full article, click here.]” September 2005.
“Her perspective might be easier to comprehend if she were a sex-positive, 1960s [for full article, click here.]“