News
Narrative Pyrotechnics Fizzle in "Ghost-Eye
14+ hour, 23+ min ago (356+ words) Chicago Review of Books In Ghost-Eye, Amitav Ghosh posits the global disorientation of the COVID-19 pandemic as a flux state, where parapsychological phenomena, past-life memories, mythology, and Indigenous knowledge might hold the key to getting humans out of the looming…...
A Conversation with Michael Nath about Otherworlds and Time in "Talbot and The Fall: A Comedy (With Support)
1+ day, 14+ hour ago (578+ words) We discussed the book ahead of its release over email. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. "Tracks" come up in various forms across the book. Most notably, musical tracks and the physical tracks of the London Tube....
Introducing Book Stuff
2+ day, 1+ hour ago (340+ words) Hi, I'm Tucker Legerski, and I am the host of the new podcast Book Stuff! First episode is released today! It's a dawn, a trumpet, an alarm clock chime start to something new. Book Stuff is for readers and the…...
Micro-wants and Wanderings: An Interview with T Clark
2+ day, 1+ hour ago (587+ words) I'm curious about how this collection started. Were there a handful of stories that sparked the themes that run throughout? It's the culmination of years of writing stories, and the themes of my heart and my life all that time....
The New Chicago Renaissance: Jeremy Owens on Rebecca Makkai's "The Great Believers"
5+ day, 21+ hour ago (202+ words) In honor of the 10th anniversary of the Chicago Review of Books, The New Chicago Renaissance series revisits exemplary works of literature about Chicago from the last 10 years and explores their continued relevance. Join us all year long as 12 leading writers…...
Small Choices Add Up in Lucy Caldwell's "Devotions
4+ day, 22+ hour ago (200+ words) The first story in Lucy Caldwell's Devotions, "Hamlet, a love story," quickly and compellingly constructs a whole world. Sonya, the narrator, is part of the cast of Choose Your Own Hamlet, a Hamlet reimagining in which Hamlet chooses the direction…...
Living on the Edge: A Conversation with Yu-Mei Balasingamchow about "Names Have Been Changed"
1+ week, 15+ hour ago (271+ words) I met Yu-Mei for the first time at AWP26 in Baltimore. After our greetings, she modestly pulled out an advance copy of her debut novel. I glanced at the stunning yellow and orange cover with the peeking eyes. I knew I…...
Trapped with Each Other in "Pool House
6+ day, 6+ hour ago (432+ words) Stevie has a found family'it may be fake, but that's only because it started as a TV sitcom. In real life, it's worse. In the LA of Pool House, Mary H. K. Choi's adult debut, Wabi-Sabi was a much-loved show starring Mac…...
Critics in Conversation: Two CHIRB Editors Discuss "Angel Down"
1+ week, 6+ hour ago (430+ words) Critics in Conversation is a new "podcast on the page" feature in which contributors discuss a book or issue currently making headlines in the literary world. (We highly recommend reading Rebecca Makkai's Substack on how literary prizes are chosen'Rebecca was…...
Chris Smalls is Awake in "When The Revolution Comes." Are You?
2+ week, 1+ day ago (954+ words) Chicago Review of Books Smalls is intelligent and experienced enough to know how his protest would most likely play out: arrest. This is only one of the many times he has been taken into custody for his activism, most recently…...