2007
Sherwood Anderson: Winesburg, Ohio
Marvelous,
wide-ranging, emotionally moving cycle of stories about the lonely and seeking inhabitants
of a small Midwestern town. [Excerpt]
Joe Pernice: Meat Is Murder
Slow-starting
but good-finishing tale of a Smiths record on one youngster's life.
Cormac McCarthy: The Road
Powerful
novel of father and son wandering through a post-apocalypse wasteland. [Review]
[Excerpt]
Ian McEwan: Atonement
Magnificent
novel of youthful indiscretion and unintended consequences, and a meditation on
truth versus fiction as well as a writer’s responsibility. [Review]
[Excerpt]
Aaron Petrovich: The Session
Black
comedy "novella in dialogue" in which all is not quite as it seems. [Review]
Samuel Beckett: Waiting For Godot
The
classic stage play—despairingly poignant and darkly comic. [Excerpt]
Edward Gorey: Amphigorey Again
Wonderfully
warped drawings and unsettling narratives from the master artist.
James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as
a Young Man
Uneven,
meandering and greatly disappointing novel from one of the purported greats. [Excerpt]
Bayo Ojikutu: Free Burning
Gripping
urban novel of a man's increasingly desperate attempt to support his family and
keep it intact. [Review]
Jim Thompson: Pop. 1280
Darkly
comic and disturbing tale of a small-town psychopath, with an odd (and fairly unsatisfying)
messianic twist at the end. I strongly prefer my Thompson protagonists to be
psychopathic and immoral and rather proud of it, but Nick Corey’s
transformation—which comes completely out of nowhere—dilutes the otherwise
delicious badness of his character.
Ward Just: Forgetfulness
Wonderfully
written and deeply insightful novel about one man confronting grief, vengeance
and his past. [Review]
Laila Lalami: Hope and Other Dangerous
Pursuits
Expertly crafted and
emotionally moving novel about Moroccans risking their lives crossing the
Various Writers: All Hands On: THE2NDHAND Reader
Intriguing collection of
stories from the Chicago-based literary broadsheet, ranging from conventional
narratives to more experimental forms.
Andrew Patner: I.F. Stone: A Portrait:
Conversations With a Nonconformist
Fascinating profile of, and
conversations with, the maverick independent journalist.
2006
Shalom Auslander: Beware of God: Stories
Extremely funny, deeply
thoughtful and borderline blasphemous stories about God, believers and faith.
Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis: The Story of a
Childhood
Excellent graphic memoir
about a young girl's upbringing in post-revolution Iraq.
Todd Dills: Sons of the Rapture
Epic fathers-and-sons tale
spanning two centuries, from hipster Chicago to hidebound South Carolina.
Funny, sad and often quite dizzying.
James Meek: The People's Act of Love
A stunning achievement—a novel
with an epic sweep which still manages to convey the small details of people’s
everyday lives, a stirring story of love, suspense and war. [Review] [Excerpt]
Robert Olen Butler: Had a Good Time: Stories
from American Postcards
Sharp collection of stories
inspired by postcards of the early 20th Century.
Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five
Great anti-war novel
highlighted by Vonnegut's spare but vivid prose. [Excerpt] [Excerpt]
Franz
Kafka and Peter Kuper: The Metamorphosis
Terrific graphic
interpretation of Kafka's classic short story.
Joe Meno: Hairstyles of the Damned
Sharply written, perfectly
voiced, and funny tale of a teenaged boy of the early 1990s struggling to find
his place in the world.
John McNally: America's Report Card
Biting satire on our current
political climate, told via a lost teenage girl and an only slightly less lost
grad student.
Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie
Classic novel of social
realism which brilliantly depicts Chicago and New York of the late 19th
Century, focusing on three tragic characters. [Excerpt]
Tony Fitzpatrick: Bum Town
Wonderful poetic ode to
Fitzpatrick's father, Chicago's South Side and the ghosts that haunt both. [Review]
Art
Spiegelman: In the Shadow of No Towers
Idiosyncratically brilliant
illustrated account of Spiegelman's experiences with 9/11 and its aftermath.
Unforgettable.
Daniel Clowes: Ice Haven
Fine graphic novel about a
fictional town and its lonely, directionless denizens.
Jonathan Coe: Like a Fiery Elephant: The
Story of B.S. Johnson
Excellent, innovative
biography of the compelling, confounding, tormented British experimental
novelist.
Richard Grayson: And To Think That He Kissed Him on Lorimer Street
Fine collection of
semi-autobiographical short stories from the prolific author. [Review]
J. Niimi: Murmur
Well-meaning but ultimately
disappointing study of R.E.M.’s Murmur, one of the elusively great
albums in rock history. Although there are fine passages throughout, Niimi
can’t settle on a focus, alternating between gushing R.E.M. fan, recording
studio wonk, cultural theorist, social historian and memoirist—using just one
of any of these focuses would have improved the narrative immensely.
Kevin Guilfoile: Cast of Shadows
Strong, ambitious debut
novel which goes far beyond the thriller genre to explore reproductive
technology, medical ethics, philosophy, alternate reality, religious fanaticism
and, most importantly, a grieving father and the dubious extremes he will go to
find the truth. [Review] [Excerpt]
Miriam Toews: A Complicated Kindness
Fine novel about a teenaged
girl struggling against her repressive religious community. A bit of a
“grower”—the narrator’s casual language is off-putting at first, but ultimately
the vivid and poignant narrative wins out. [Excerpt]
James Joyce: Dubliners
Marvelous collection of
stories from the literary legend. Dare I now brave Ulysses?
Paul Strathern: Kafka in 90 Minutes
Sharp, concise biography of the
great writer. [Excerpt]
Brian Costello: The Enchanters Vs.
Sprawlburg Springs
Fun romp through suburban
hell, seen through the eyes of a sloppy pseudo-punk band. [Review]
Colin Meloy: Let It Be
Wonderful memoir of boyhood
and the Replacements' best album, from the Decemberists frontman.
Henry Roth: Call It Sleep
Interesting 1930s novel of Jewish
immigration and assimilation. [Excerpt]
A long, thoughtful
contemplation on grief and loss.
Ander Monson: Other Electricities
Not quite a story
collection, not quite a novel, Monson’s wonderful inventive prose unforgettably
depicts life and ever-present death in
Wade Rubenstein: Gullboy
Odd, darkly comic novel
about a father and his unique son.
2005
Calvin Trillin: Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme
Typically fun collection of Trillin's topical poetry. [Excerpt]
William Trevor: The Story of Lucy Gault
Sadly beautiful novel about a young Irish girl's impulsive mistake and
its reverberations on the lives of everyone around her.
Herbert Asbury: The Gangs of Chicago
Fascinating account of Chicago's most notable criminal elements, from
the city’s 1830s inception through Capone’s 1931 conviction on tax evasion
charges. [Review] [Excerpt] [Excerpt]
Nick Hornby: The Polysyllabic Spree
A warm, engaging, thoughtful account of Hornby's passion for reading,
and his ongoing battle to read as many books as he buys.
Davy Rothbart: The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas
Wonderful collection of short stories, narrated by lonely misfits
trying to find their place in the world. [Brief Review]
Various: Chicago Noir
Highly enjoyable collection of Chicago stories, many offering inventive
takes on the noir tradition. [Review]
Joe Sacco: Palestine
Brilliant "graphic journalism" account of the
Israeli-Palestine conflict, told from the Palestinian perspective which is so
largely ignored by the American media.
Åsne Seierstad: A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal
Personal account of the bombing and fall of Baghdad in 2003 from the
acclaimed journalist.
Knut Hamsun: In Wonderland
Illuminating account of Hamsun’s travels to the Caucasus region of
Russia in 1899.
Aleksandar Hemon: Nowhere Man
Brilliant novel of a young Bosnian refugee and his struggle to make
sense of his place in America and the world.
Don DeGrazia: American Skin
Powerful coming-of-age novel about skinheads and ever-shifting
alliances and philosophies.
Kirby Gann: Our Napoleon in Rags
Vividly written novel about one man's doomed efforts to redeem mankind
and make the world a better place. [Review/Excerpt]
Kevin Smokler (editor): Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times
Sharp, thoughtful collection of essays on the current state of serious
reading. [Review]
Ian McEwan: Saturday
Masterfully written novel of one man's day from one of our greatest
living writers.
Stephen Elliott: Happy Baby
Inventive and oddly uplifting novel about a man’s quietly harrowing
journey through the state juvenile system and a self-abusive adulthood. [Review]
Pär Lagerkvist: The Eternal Smile
Three long, epic stories about religious faith and the meaning of human
life. The first and last, “The Eternal Smile” and “The Executioner” are less
successful due to being more allegories than plot- and character-driven
stories. But the middle story, “Guest of Reality,” is a lovely short story
meditation on faith and death, told from the viewpoint of the young boy Anders.
[Excerpt]
John McNally: The Book of Ralph
Highly entertaining novel about growing up and its often ugly
aftermath.
Nelson Algren: The Man With the Golden Arm
Simply one of the greatest American novels ever. An unequivocal
must-read. [Excerpt]
David Bezmozgis: Natasha and Other Stories
Fine collection of stories from this debut author, about Russian Jewish
immigrants in Toronto finding their way to a new life.
Mike Royko: Slats Grobnik and Some Other Friends
Wonderful collection of newspaper columns, 1966 to 1973. (Out of
print.) [Excerpt] [Excerpt]
Alex Kotlowitz: There Are No Children Here
Every bit as good as advertised. Absolutely essential reading.
Carolyn Eastwood: Near West Side Stories: Struggles for Community in Chicago's Maxwell
Street Neighborhood
Oral histories from the four main ethnic groups of Chicago's Near West
Side, and their fight to save the neighborhood from the city's urban renewal
efforts. [Excerpt] [Excerpt]
Excellent character-driven novel of a young man coming of age in 1950s
Chicago. [Excerpt]
James T. Farrell: Studs Lonigan: A Trilogy (Young Lonigan)
First volume of Farrell's classic work of realism, a gritty tale of
Chicago's working-class Irish in the early 20th Century.
Fine collection of interconnected stories set in
Nice literary fiction in which Chabon imagines the final case of
Sherlock Holmes' career. Literary--not just genre--fiction.
Impeccably crafted collection of short stories by the Irish master. [Excerpt]
Quiet, gently-written collection of stories from the late author.
2004