8 New Chicago Books
ACM: Another Chicago Magazine
$12, anotherchicagomagazine.net
Yes, it's actually a literary magazine, but January's issue of ACM (Another Chicago Magazine) is more like an anthology of current Chicago-related literature. Partly a celebration of 50 issues, and partly a response to Granta's recent (and very popular) "Chicago" issue, ACM's "Another Chicago Issue" features 190 pages of poems, stories and other pieces all about the city and mostly by local authors.
Body Work
By Sara Paretsky
$26.95, Putnam Adult, us.penguingroup.com
Popular Chicago crime novelist Sara Paretsky's 14th novel featuring PI V.I. Warshawski is set in the city's avant-garde art scene. The book follows Warshawski as she investigates the murder of a painter and tries to clear the name of the prime suspect, an Iraqi war veteran.
Life, on the Line:
A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat
By Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas
$27, Gotham Books, us.penguingroup.com
Renowned chef Grant Achatz and his business partner, Nick Kokonas, co-authored this just-released memoir of growing up in a culinary environment, developing a unique approach to cooking, opening Alinea, and dealing with a serious cancer diagnosis. The book reveals Achatz's passion for food and the business philosophy behind one of the most artistic and innovative restaurants in North America, making this a must-read for local foodies.
Royko in Love
By Mike Royko, edited by David Royko
$24, University of Chicago Press, www.press.uchicago.edu
While Mike Royko's newspaper columns rarely addressed his personal life, the subject of his most famous column, "November Farewell," was the untimely passing of his first wife, Carol. The piece is included in this collection of Royko's heartfelt correspondence with his childhood sweetheart. The long-distance love letters were written to Carol while Royko was stationed at Blaine Air Force Base in Washington, and are all the more compelling as the written word was his only means of winning her over.
Slow Trains Overhead
By Reginald Gibbons
$20, University of Chicago Press, www.press.uchicago.edu
Poet and fiction writer Reginald Gibbons is a long-serving professor at Northwestern University, and his connection to Chicago is revealed and celebrated in this recent book of poems. Its pages contain vividly-rendered street-level sketches of modern city life that echo the work of Nelson Algren and James T. Farrell.
The Third City: Chicago and American Urbanism
By Larry Bennett
$22.50, University of Chicago Press, www.press.uchicago.edu
With his recent book, Larry Bennett attempts to define the city's identity over the past two decades. The title refers to the author's assertion that contemporary Chicago is the "third city," following its first incarnation as an industrial center and its subsequent transformation into the rustbelt period of 1950-1990. The "third city" phase reflects a revitalized urban center, with new economy employment and shifting patterns of immigration.
The Thousand
By Kevin Guilfoile
$24.95, Knopf, knopfdoubleday.com
Set in Chicago and Las Vegas, this second novel by Cast of Shadows author Kevin Guilfoile is a Da Vinci Code-style conspiracy theory thriller. The story unfolds as its protagonist, the excellently named Canada Gold, investigates the murder of her father and the shadowy secret society known as The Thousand.
Threadless:
Ten Years of T-shirts from the World's Most Inspiring Online Design Community
By Jake Nickell
$22, Abrams Image, www.threadless.com
The funky and innovative Lakeview t-shirt and design shop Threadless is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with the release of a 224-page book highlighting some of the company's many artists and designs. A special edition coffee table-ready hardcover with sketchbook is available for $75.
Greg Wahl is a Chicagoan, a freelancer, a grad student, and a seeker of all things awesome & interesting throughout the city and beyond.
