Category: news

  • Adam Parfrey R.I.P.

    With deep sadness we learned that landmark publisher Adam Parfrey of Feral House has passed on May 10th (as reported by the FH Facebook page). FH has always been the resource for underground, extreme and forbidden knowledge, and helped give voice to the voiceless. Without FH we would not be the store that we are. Deepest condolences to all in the Parfrey Feral House family.

  • New Stuff This Week

    Shiver: Selected Stories by Junji Ito $22.99

    Zines

    Hello I am Nice LOL Because I Have to be Right $10

    Life is Disappointing #4 $8

    Testify: Tell Your Government What You Think by Bronwyn Mauldin $7

    Sub/Verse #9 Pool Holograph $5

    These Things Might Help: A Self Care Zine by Lois De Silva $5

    Terrible Stories From Kelly McClure $5

    Green Things: A Friendly Botanical Field Guide to Southwest Ohio and Beyond by T. Pierson $5

    Gut Buster vol 0 (Night Watch Studios) $10

    Comics

    Rough by Caroline Cash $1.50

    Shawarma Chameleon by Matthew Thurber $15

    Laskimooses #39 Matti Hagelberg $7

    Jets and Sprites by Steve Schaberg $12

    I Made This Comic to Explain My Autistic Behaviour by Elyssa Saldana $3

    3mm Bleed: A Graphic Design Drama by Fredrik Rysjedal $12

    Graphic Novels

    Comics for Choice by Hazel Newlevant & friends $25 – Anthology of comics about abortion. Contains comics from cartoonists like Sophia Foster-Dimino, Leah Hayes, Anna Bongiovanni and more.

    Red Winter by Anneli Furmark $21.95

    Robert Moses: The Master Builder of New York City by Olivier Balez and Pierre Christin $15.95

    Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman $19.99

    Ben Katchor: Conversations edited by Ian Gordon (University Press Of Mississippi) $50

    Fiction

    Lovers and Neighbors by SB Gamble $15.99

    Poetry

    Stars at Naught by Owen Patterson $9.95

    Mags

    Bust #109 Feb Mar 18 $6.99

    Maximumrocknroll #417 Feb 18 Year End Top Ten Issue $4.99

    Record Culture Magazine #4 $20

    Smith Journal #24 $17.99

    Ed Magazine #1 Architecture of Architecture $24

  • January Newsletter Out Now!

     

    The Quimby’s Bookstore Newsletter for January 2018 is available for viewing: Announcements, Events, New Stuff & more! Click here to see it, and don’t forget to sign up to get it in your inbox every month!

  • American Writers Museum Opens In Chicago

    The American Writers Museum is the first and only museum of its kind in the United States, and it’s open here in Chicago. The mission of the American Writers Museum is to engage the public in celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, and our daily lives. The museum is located at 180 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60601, and offers something for every age group including permanent exhibits and special galleries highlighting America’s favorite works and the authors behind them.

    The American Writers Museum has garnered the enthusiastic support of scholars, and from cultural, civic and business leaders, and publications both domestic and international. Some of their events include publishing workshops, memoir workshops, readings and more. For a full event schedule, more information, or to sign up for one of the many upcoming programs, visit www.americanwritersmuseum.org.

    Tickets to the museum are $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and free for children under 12. Museum hours are Tuesday – Sunday 10 AM – 5 PM, Thursdays 10AM- 8PM. For more information visit www.americanwritersmuseum.org or call 312-374-8790.

    And oh yeah, follow them on Twitter at @AmerWriteMuseum.

  • Abbreviated hours Hours on Wed, May 17th: noon to 4pm

    Instead of closing at 9pm like we normally do on Wednesdays we’ll close at 4pm.

    It’s ’cause a TV show is filming a thing here. As soon as we’re allowed to tell you what it is, we will.

    But rest assured, we will be open again at our regular time on Thursday the 18th at noon!

  • Take the #MyChicagoBookstore Challenge on Independent Bookstore Day 4/29

    On Saturday, April 29th Quimby’s Bookstore, along with two dozen independent bookstores all over the Chicago area, are collaborating to make this year’s Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) an event that celebrates the vibrancy of Chicagoland as a dream destination for book lovers. Each store creates its own unique events and Quimby’s is no exception.

    Quimby’s is celebrating IBD in two ways. First, we welcome co-authors Steven Nodine and Eric Beaumont will celebrate the release of Brick Through the Window: An Oral History of Punk Rock, New Wave & Noise in Milwaukee, 1964-1984, celebrating our midwest sister city Milwaukee (because hey, let’s show some major metropolises the love on this one-day party). More info on that event at 7pm here.

    Secondly, Quimby’s will collaborate with at least 24 stores, jointly sponsoring the #MyChicagoBookstore Challenge, which encourages book lovers to indulge in bookstore tourism by visiting 10 or more stores on that one day.

    To begin their trip, readers can pick up a #MyChicagoBookstore carabiner and their first “luggage tag” from the store of their choice (from any of the independent bookstores listed below) with an initial purchase of $25 or more. Get it? “Luggage Tag,” as in Chicago being a dream destination for book lovers? As in, where books take you, somewhere?! SO CLEVER.

    Bookstore visits throughout the day (no purchase required) enable them to collect an additional tag at each subsequent bookstore. The payoff comes for visits at the following levels:

    • Visit TEN stores and get 10% off at all bookstores listed below for the ENTIRE YEAR!
    • Visit FIFTEEN stores and get 15% off at all bookstores listed below for the ENTIRE YEAR!  

    Also, readers are encouraged to post a snapshot of themselves and their Independent Bookstore Day haul, and enter to win more prizes!

    On Instagram Use #CHIBD17

    On Twitter: Use #CHIBD17 or @chibookstore

    The #MyChicagoBookstore Challenge is being sponsored by the Chicagoland Independent Bookstore Allliance (ChIBA), an association formed last year to raise awareness about the vitality of the area’s indie stores. ChIBA also maintains a Facebook page–#MyChicagoBookstore—where all member stores can post readings and other literary events to create one central “billboard” for literary culture in the greater Chicago area.

    #MyChicagoBookstore Luggage Tag Challenge Participating Stores:

    Quimby’s Bookstore 1854 W. North Ave, Chicago

    57th Street Books 1301 E. 57th St., Chicago

    Anderson’s Bookshop (three stores): 5112 Main St., Downers Grove, 26 S. La Grange Rd., La Grange, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville

    The Book Bin 151 Church St., Northbrook

    The Book Cellar 4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago

    The Book Stall Chestnut Court, 811 Elm St., Winnetka

    The Book Table 1045 Lake St., Oak Park

    Bookends & Beginnings 1712 Sherman Ave., Alley #1, Evanston

    Bookie’s 2419 W. 103rd St., Chicago

    Centuries and Sleuths 7419 Madison St., Forest Park

    Magic Tree Bookstore 141 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park

    Newberry Library Bookshop 60 W. Walton St., Chicago

    Open Books (two stores): 905 W. 19th St., Chicago (Pilsen), 651 W. Lake St., Chicago (West Loop)

    Powell’s Books Chicago 1501 E. 57th St., Chicago

    Read It & Eat 2142 N. Halsted St., Chicago

    RoscoeBooks 2142 W. Roscoe St., Chicago

    Sandmeyer’s Bookstore 714 S. Dearborn St., Chicago

    Seminary Co-op Bookstore 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago

    Volumes Bookcafe 1474 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

    Wicker Park Secret Agent Supply Co./826CHI 1276 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

    Women & Children First 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago

  • December Monthly Newsletter Link! Holiday Hours!

    December Quimby’s Bookstore Newsletter: your monthly newsletter of Quimby’s Bookstore news, event-related stuff, and notable new items! To read all of it and/or subscribe to it, click here or the image below. Also note our holiday hours (listed below).

    screen-shot-2016-12-03-at-12-00-33-pm

  • New Stuff This Week


    gabbypoints

    Quimbys Bookstore 25th T-shirt by Gabby Schulz $15.99Modeled by the artist himself above. Celebrate two and a half decades of the weirdest bookstore on the planet by wearing a Quimby’s t-shirt designed by comics artist and Quimby’s employee extraordinaire Mr. Gabby Schulz (aka Ken Dahl), author of such fine books as Sick, Monsters and Welcome to the Dahl House, and who is responsible for many of the winning signs around the store. These shirts were printed locally, by our friends at Sharprint Decorated Apparel, and we couldn’t be happier with the work they’ve done. These chino-printed 4 color babies come on a white shirt and declare to the world, Quimby’s has been “tenaciously resisting the 21st Century Since 1991.”

    chriswaresmallprintbothsides

    Chris Ware Quimby’s 25th Print in 2 sizes!
    It’s a model of our store that you can make your very own in-house Quimby’s to stare at any time you want. It also explains, in the poetic way that only Mr. Ware can, the story of the store, his relationship with it, and some of the key players in the store: including the original and current owners as well as the manager. Don’t miss this chance to build your very own Quimby’s! PLUS! The smaller edition of this print has an Acme Novelty Library comic on the back by Mr. Ware, originally published in Chicago’s very NewCity in 1996, featuring Jimmy Corrigan learning about freak culture here at this fine establishment, then disseminating his first Xeroxed foray into fringe publishing.

    everevolvinginthebox

    Ever Evolving Bastion of Freakdom: A Quimby’s Bookstore History In Words and Pictures by Liz Mason, Keith Helt and Steven Svymbersky $6.00 – The story of the early days of Quimby’s up through today. Pictures, graphics, juice, from employees, shoppers, consignors and artists that have frequented the store’s hallowed doors. This special “ashcan edition” is a limited print run zine to celebrate the store’s silver jubilee and documents much of the mirth and mayhem that has made Quimby’s the place that it is. We are proud to unveil it.

    Coming this week!:

    Quimbrew

    Pre-order QuimBrew by Marz Community Brewing & Quimby’s Bookstore with an awesome label by the amazing Chicago artist Laura Park. Order it from The Beer Temple, and your shipment will come with the Quimby’s oral history zine!

    *ZINES*

    Somnambulist #27 Two Friends Talk About Their Cities by Martha Grover $5.00

    Lady Teeth issues #4-8 by Taryn Hipp, various prices $2.00

    *COMICS & MINIS*

    Sparrows Dragon: A Prelude by Ariel Chan $6.00

    Shape Denter #1 & Modern Place vol 1 by Rodger Binyone (No-Man Illustration) $20.00 each

    Hairless Who #3 by Joe Tallarico $6.00

    Good Area by Dan Dandrea $1.00

    Weird View Weird Few by Evah Fan $6.00

    Fluke Fanzine #13 with Tav Falco $4.00

    *ART & DESIGN BOOKS*

    Dabs Myla Before and Further (Gingko Press) $24.95

    Shelter: Moki (Gingko Press) $29.95

    A Cycling Lexicon: Bicycle Headbadges from a Bygone Era by Phil Carter & Jeff Conner (Gingko Press) $19.95

    Street Book: Writer’s Walk by Benjamin Legan (Publikat) $24.95 – 32 different city settings filled with buses, benches, subway platforms and other features for you tag and mess up.

    Steampunk: The Art of Retro-Futurism by Dopress Books (CYPI Press) $39.95

    The Jukebox Coloring Book by The Jukebox Cowboys (Publikat) $12.95 – A bunch o’artists illustrated songs by artists like Johnny Cash, the Village People, and Grandmaster Flash — now you can color them in.

    *MUSIC BOOKS*

    Hard-Core: Life of My Own by Harley Flanagan (Feral House) $23.95 – Memoir from the founder of the Cro-Mags.

    Oh So Pretty: Punk in Print 1976-1980 by Rick Poynor (Phaidon) $29.95

    Swim Through the Darkness: My Search for Craig Smith and the Mystery of Maitreya Kali by Mike Stax (Ferl House) $19.95 – Craig Smith was a 1960s golSwimThroughTheDarkness_Cover_small-e1469737892615den boy – good looking, charismatic, outgoing; a preternaturally gifted musician and songwriter whose songs were recorded by some of the biggest names in entertainment – Andy Williams, Glen Campbell, the Monkees. Starting out his career on the Andy Williams Show as a member of the Good Time Singers, Smith next teamed up with Chris Ducey in the duo Chris & Craig, then the Penny Arkade, a talented group mentored and produced by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees. Smith’s future success seemed assured, until an unexpected turn of events plunged him into a terrifying darkness. Clean-cut Craig Smith became Maitreya Kali, the self-proclaimed psychedelic Messiah. He laid out his poignant, disturbing schizophrenic vision on a sprawling self-released double-album before disappearing completely. Author Mike Stax spent fifteen years piecing together the mystery of Maitreya Kali, uncovering one of the strangest and most tragic untold stories of the 1960s and ‘70s.

    Terminated for Reasons of Taste: Other Ways to Hear Essential and Inessential Music by Chuck Eddy (Duke U Press) $26.95

    *FICTION*

    Late Stories by Stephen Dixon (Curbside Splendor) $16.95

    *POLITICS & REVOLUTION*

    Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto by Bill Ayers (Haymarket) $14.95

    *LIT JOURNALS*

    Wrong Quarterly Issue #4 $9.99

    *FOR THE KIDDIES*

    Charlotte Wander On by Matt Cubberly & Irene Kovalova $20.00

    Blip: A Toon Book by Barnaby Richards (Raw Junior) $12.95

  • John Olson Reads From Life Is a Rip-Off with Alan Hoffman 10/8

    LRIP-cover-550

    From American Tapes to Wolf Eyes, John Olson is one of the most influential musicians of the past two decades, the obvious bridge between free jazz and noise music. Wikipedia lists over 75 projects with which Olson worked and over 100 Wolf Eyes’ recordings. Olson is now a discerning and sharp-witted author too: LIFE IS A RIP OFF, published by Jack White’s imprint Third Man Records, is a collection of surprisingly untraditional record reviews which Olson wrote over the course of 365 days. He will read from his book on Saturday October 8, accompanied by some of his many instruments.

    Local writer-performance artist Alan Hoffman will open for him and debut his novella AUDITIONS about internet-porn casting-couch videos.

    olson hoff parody

    LIFE IS A RIP OFF: THE COMPLETE BOOK is 12 months of record reviews—one record a day, every day, for one year. Yes, John “Inzane” Olson aka Inzane Johnny of the bandWolf Eyes aka American Tapes did that. And he reviewed everything from death metal demo cassettes to the Staples Singers’ gospel. Enter into the OLZONE and find out about music you’ve never known, bands from places that you’ve never heard, and then read his review of KANSAS. Reading LRIP will make you re-realize why blues is relevant, why every punk band in America matters, why jazz is good for the heart, and metal will always ride by your side.

    “To write music op-ed this good, you have to tap the primordial sap sack, to butterfly stroke the ancient ooze of tune begatment, cave dwell with the knuckle draggers, scratch symbols into the dirt with the freaks and make it rain. He do and it did.” — Henry Rollins

    “[Life is a Rip Off] is the best way [John Olson] can add another cubist layer to the sound and visuality he’s already presented for the last twenty or so years. He’s sharing something the people who don’t know him personally don’t get enough of—his textual, syntactical brain, stained as it is with dollar-store spray paint.” Ben Hell Hall, Detroit artist.

    “When John agreed to write a record review a day, back in 20xx, I wasn’t too keen on the idea. Not because I didn’t think he could do it – but that I knew he would do it, even if it became a years-long all-encompassing obsessive task.” — Tovah Olson, The Dead Machines.

    “[John Olson] didn’t just introduce me to different worlds, the man introduced me to entire universes.” Bryan Ramirez, Killertrees Records

    “Wolf Eyes . . . sounds like a crumbling Velvet Underground bootleg that’s been burned to ashes.” NPR, Sept 2015

    As always, this event at Quimby’s is free.

    More info:

    The Facebook invite for this event. Invite your friends!

    https://thirdmanrecords.com/news/life-is-a-rip-off/

    http://www.wolfeyes.net/

    https://wolf-eyes.bandcamp.com/