Category: Store Events

  • Chester Brown Stops at Quimby’s on the Paying For It Tour 5/11

    It’s tempting to call Chester Brown a recluse, but if you live in Toronto, he’s not. But it is rare for him to hit the road, and he will be on tour in 2011 for PAYING FOR IT.

    Chester Brown has never shied away from tackling controversial subjects in his work. As the cartoonist of the autobiographical The Playboy and the biography Louis Riel, Paying For It is a natural progression for Brown as it combines the personal and sexual aspects of his autobiographical work with the polemical drive of Louis Riel. Brown calmly lays out the facts of how he became not only a willing participant in but also a vocal proponent of one of the world’s most hot-button topics–prostitution. Paying For It offers an entirely contemporary exploration of sex work–from the timid john who rides his bike to meet his escorts, wonders how to tip so as not to offend, and reads Dan Savage for advice, to the modern-day transactions complete with online reviews, seemingly willing participants, and clean apartments devoid of cliches street corners, drugs, or primps.

    Paying For It is a book that stands for itself and will be the most talked about graphic novel of 2011. In stores this May.

    Hardcover, 5.5 x 7.5, Black & White, 272 pages, ISBN: 9781770460485, $24.95 US / $25.95 CDN

    “PAYING FOR IT is a very enlightening book, as well as being entertaining…{Chester Brown} is a very skillfull artist in that way.”–R. CRUMB, from his introduction to PAYING FOR IT

    Wed, May 11th, 7pm

    Refreshments Provided by Piece Pizzeria & Brewery!

  • “Cinco De Awesome” J. Bradley Reads From The Serial Rapist Sitting Behind You Is a Robot

    When asked about his influences, J. Bradley points to three enduring sources: failure, 80s cartoon, unrequited love. Not a likely combination for a writer, but one that has brought forth The Serial Rapist Sitting Behind You is a Robot (Safety Third Enterprises). A collection of prose-poems from J. Bradley in his first foray into fiction. Bradley’s swift cuts and unapologetic style still remains intact in this new frame delighting in tales of Jurassic Park, sexual liaisons, and sexual disgust. Even in the darker times of the twenty story collection the Florida poet goes for a dirty bountiful laugh.

    “Rabbit punches are illegal in boxing because they are a potentially fatal blow. “The Serial Rapist Sitting Behind You Is A Robot” is a series of rabbit punches comprised of poetry, wit, sex and sick.  J. Bradley attempts to kill with each piece; packing their tiny structures full of a power reserved for breaking the teeth of cheating spouses.  Each piece makes an impact that stuns strong and spreads circular in a visceral ring that will leave the reader wondering, “What just happened here?” After they stagger to their feet, they will taunt him to hit them again and again.” – xTx, author of Normally Special

    Also joining the bill are Chicago author Ben Tanzer, who will read from his book You Can Make Him Like You (Artistically Declined Press), James Tadd Adcox, editor of Artifice Magazine and Brandon Will.

    For more info: http://iheartfailure.net

  • Ryan Van Meter Reads From If You Knew Then What I Know Now 4/28

    In fourteen linked essays, If You Knew Then What I Know Now reinvents the memoir with all-encompassing empathy—for bully and bullied alike. A father pitches baseballs at his hapless son, and a grandmother watches with silent forbearance as the same slim, quiet boy sets the table dressed in a blue satin dress. Another essay explores origins of the word “faggot,” and its etymological connection to “flaming queen.” This deft collection maps the unremarkable landscapes of childhood with compassion and precision, allowing awkwardness its own beauty.

    Ryan Van Meter holds an MA in creative writing from DePaul University and an MFA in nonfiction writing from The University of Iowa. His essays have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Gulf Coast, and Fourth Genre, among others, and been selected for anthologies including Best American Essays 2009. In the summer of 2009, he was awarded a residency at the MacDowell Colony. He currently lives in California where he is an assistant professor of creative nonfiction at The University of San Francisco.

    “Ryan Van Meter’s is both a charming and wounding intelligence. To read a book this observant, this fiercely honest, and this effortlessly beautiful is to feel the very pulse of contemporary American essays.”

    —John D’Agata

    For more info: ryanvanmeter.net

    Thursday , April 28th, 7 pm

  • Flint Expat Poets Larry O. Dean and Sarah Carson Read 4/29

    Larry O. Dean reads from his just-released chapbooks, About the Author (Mindmade Books) and abbrev (Beard of Bees), as well as new and collected works. He was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, where he worked with Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Michael Moore. He attended the University of Michigan, where he won three Hopwood Awards in Creative Writing, and Murray State University’s low-residency MFA program. He teaches literature and composition, and is a Poet-in-Residence in the Chicago Public Schools through the Poetry Center of Chicago’s Hands on Stanzas program. Dean was a recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Award for teaching excellence in 2004. Selected magazine publications include Berkeley Poetry Review, Passages North, Big Bridge, Keyhole, OCHO, Dinosaur Bees, and Used Furniture Review. His work has been widely anthologized, and translated into Chinese, Italian, and Spanish.
    “In About the Author, Larry O. Dean’s anti-author’s note poems do what the author’s note never sets out to do, that is tell us what really makes the most sense. These funny and elegant poems about assertion and negation, give us a poet pushing the edges of his own new genre. The reader is in for an enjoyable and revelatory ride.” –Mark Statman, Tourist at a Miracle (poems) and co-translator, Poet in New York (Federico Garcia Lorca)

    “When the author is Larry O. Dean, the odds are the book is very, very good indeed. Like his books that preceded it, About the Author is funny and insightful and has a sneaky way of making serious sense through all the cleverness. Reading this book is smiling with the author while he gives you something new to think about. And, serious though he may be, he never lets you lose the grin. Outstanding!” –Charlie Newman, author of deadmachinecity

    In addition, Dean is a singer-songwriter, working both solo as well as with several ‘hard pop’ bands. His numerous critically-acclaimed albums include Throw the Lions to the Christians (1997) and Sir Slob (2001); Public Displays of Affection (1998) and Fables in Slang (2001), with Post Office; Gentrification Is Theft (2002), with The Me Decade; and Fun with a Purpose (2009), with The Injured Parties. He is currently working with producer, Chris Stamey (of The dB’s) on his third solo album, titled Good Grief. Since 2001 he has hosted and performed at the monthly songwriter showcase he created, Folk You!

    Dean will be joined by fellow Flint expat, Sarah Carson, associate editor at RHINO and the Communications Specialist at Switchback Books. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Barrow Street, Diagram, Epiphany, Limestone, Poet Lore, Strange Machine, and Slipstream, among others. She is the author of two chapbooks: Before Onstar (Etched Press, 2010) and Twenty-Two (Finishing Line Press, 2011).
    Copies of the poets’ most recent works will be available for purchase and for signing at this event.

    For more info: contact larry@larryodean.com or info@mindmadebooks.com

    Fri, Apr 29th, 7PM

  • Fame and Disgrace: Christopher Smit Reads From The Exile of Britney Spears 4/23

    Over the course of her decade-long career in the music industry, Britney Spears has both fascinated and repelled the American public, first as an international pop icon, then as a media spectacle gleefully criticized for her rocky marriage and bizarre actions, including shaving her head. The Exile of Britney Spears A Tale of 21st Century Consumption charts the pop star’s rise and fall (and rise again?), illustrating American popular culture’s thirst for—and complicity in—celebrity disgrace. While there have been many takes on Britney, Chris Smit uncovers the psychological and social aspects of the uniquely American spectacle of fame and disgrace.

    Just in time for her new album.

    Christopher Smit, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His newest book is The Exile of Britney Spears: A Tale of 21st Century Consumption (Intellect/University of Chicago Press, 2011). His work on disability, aesthetics, culture, and popular music can be found in a variety of texts and journals. He is also an award-winning singer-songwriter and musician who currently fronts the band The New Midwest. For more on his work, to read his blog, and hear/download his music, please visit smitwork.com.

    For more info: University of Chicago Press Books

    Saturday, April 23, 7:00 PM

  • Calling All Nerdy Sluts & Slutty Nerds: Shappy Seasholtz & Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz Read at Quimbys

    Poets Shappy Seasholtz and Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz have had a pretty incredible last few months. In August, they left New York City (their home for the eight years) to move to Philadelphia, where Aptowicz had been awarded the 2010-2011 ArtsEdge Writer-in-Residency at the University of Pennsylvania– the first time that the honor had been given to a slam poet.

    In October 2010, Seasholtz won the slot to represent Philadelphia at the Individual World Poetry Slam Championships, where he competed in December, placing in the top 10 after the first night of competition. In November 2010, it was announced that Aptowicz had been awarded a 2011 National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship for Poetry. And in 2011, a combined total of five books of poetry – covering the couple’s compete back catalogue – are being released on two separate independent presses.

    Shappy Seasholtz’s Spoken Nerd Revolution (Pennmanship Books, 2011) covers Seasholtz’s 20 year history in Performance Poetry. Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s Hot Teen Slut – her memoir-in-verse about the year she spent as a writer for porn – is one of four books by Cristin being re-issued in expanded editions by Write Bloody Publishing..

    “Reading Spoken Nerd Revolution was like looking in a fun house mirror, letting us laugh at and relish in our own oddity.  He makes nerd beautiful. Shappy pees on the shoes of the accepted poetic stereotypes.  He’s not writing the verses that will be dissected into eulogies and greeting cards, or blasted atop break beats until the meaning is lost.   These are real words, from a hilariously cynical and sincere person.  Everyone needs a Shappy in their life..” – John Hancock, The Legendary

    “When Aptowicz graduated from college, she got a job as porn editor. Hot Teen Slut are the poems she wrote about that time. The poems are as much about that first foray into the real world as they are about the day-to-day life of a porn editor. They are funny and painful and funny. I understand that what I’m about to say might seem a little nuts to poetry pros, but I’m going to say it anyway: I have found the greatest book of poetry ever written.” – Melissa Lion, Bookslut

    Quimbys is proud to be welcoming Shaptowicz back! Special guests and refreshments will be provided!

    For more info: uncleshappy.com and aptowicz.com

    Sat, Apr 16th, 7pm

  • Sean Yseult from White Zombie Reads From I’m In The Band 4/4

    Art rock? Noise rock? Punk-metal? Alternative? White Zombie may have been unclassifiable, but it didn’t stop them from carving out a place for themselves in music history. The band became a multi-platinum, two-time Grammy nominee with the release of their 1992 album, La Sexorcisto. But while most people will remember their bizarre look and macabre lyrics, what many failed to realize was that their lanky, high-octane bass player was a woman.

    I’m in the Band charts White Zombie’s rise from the gritty music scene of New York’s Lower East Side in the eighties to arena headliners during the nineties alternative-explosion that followed in Nirvana’s wake, while sharing the unlikely story of a female musician who won the respect and adoration of male metal musicians and fans. From 1985 to 1996, Sean Yseult was the sole woman not only in White Zombie, but in the entire metal scene: bands, roadies, managers, you name it—with the exception of girlfriends and groupies, Yseult was in a world by herself.

    With I’m in the Band, Yseult combines eleven years of tour diaries, flyers, and personal photos and ephemera—many featuring rock icons such as Lemmy Kilmister, Iggy Pop, Joey Ramone, and Lux Interior—into a striking visual memoir. She offers fans a unique vantage on the life of a mega-band during rock’s last golden age.

    Sean Yseult played bass and wrote music for White Zombie from its inception in 1985 through its breakup over a decade later. Since then she’s played with Famous Monsters, Rock City Morgue, and The Cramps; exhibited her photography in galleries across the country; and formed the design company Yseult Designs. She divides her time between New Orleans and New York City.

    “This book has more good stories than a salty old sailor:  tattoos, evil deeds and alcohol breath included!”
    -CJ Ramone, The Ramones

    For more info: seanyseult.com

    Monday, April 4th, 7pm

    ********************

    Tuesday, April 5th, 9pm

    And then the next night, April 5th, we’ll be selling books at Delilah’s where Sean will  be guest DJing!

    Metal Shop at Delilahs, Chicago’s longest-running metal DJ event, is excited to announce that on Tuesday April 5th, former WHITE ZOMBIE bassist SEAN YSEULT will guest DJ! Sean Yseult and DJ Platz will also have rare White Zombie items to giveaway, along with 5 hours of the best in new and classic metal and hard rock!

    Delilahs
    2771 N. Lincoln Avenue. Chicago
    773-472-2771

    Metal Shop is from 9pm-2am, the first Tuesday of each month. As always, NO COVER.

    For more information:
    delilahschicago.com
    seanyseult.com


  • Cleveland Confidential Book Tour at Quimby's 4/2

    Smog Veil Records announces the Cleveland Confidential Book Tour returns to the road in April, with a stop at Quimby’s in Chicago on April 2.  The tour features three author-musicians also from Cleveland, Ohio including Cheetah Chrome (Rocket From The Tombs, Dead Boys, Batusis), Mike Hudson (The Pagans) and Bob Pfeifer (Human Switchboard, Tabby Chinos, former Senior Vice President A&R/Epic/Sony Records and President of Hollywood Records). Each will read excerpts from their book, answer questions from the audience and discuss their books and careers with each other. Authors will be available to sign books at each appearance.

    Cheetah Chrome – A Dead Boy’s Tale From The Front Lines Of Punk Rock is the no-holds-barred autobiography of Cheetah Chrome, lead guitarist of the Dead Boys, one of the greatest punk bands ever. It’s a tale of success and excess—amazing music, legendary antics, epic drug use, and eventual resurrection—that only a true rock and roller could deliver. As a songwriter Chrome’s work has been covered by artists such as Guns n Roses, Pearl Jam and the Beastie Boys. He still performs and records with Rocket From The Tombs and Batusis (with Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls). He lives in Nashville with his wife and son.

    Mike Hudson will read from Jetsam and Diary of a Punk. The 32 short pieces that make up Jetsam were written and published between 1977 and 2009. His lean and unsentimental prose style is apparent in even the earliest entries here. Diary of A Punk is Hudson’s autobiography. He is the founder of the seminal American punk rock group, the Pagans, formed in 1977. His work has appeared in Hustler, the Associated Press, Master Detective, Field & Stream and many other publications here and abroad. He is currently the founding editor and CEO of the Niagara Falls Reporter, a New York tabloid specializing in politics and organized crime.

    University of Strangers is Bob Pfeifer’s first novel. In a sensational case that made headlines all over the globe, the American student Amanda Knox was convicted of the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher, in what Italian authorities described as a sadistic sexual encounter. Pfeifer’s novel details the efforts of a secret society, comprised of famous contemporary figures from the worlds of literature, show business and politics, to clear the girl’s name. A unique blend of fact and fiction the book is a spellbinding account of the violence, corruption and celebrity worship that characterize much of 21st century life. Pfeifer was Senior Vice President A&R/Epic/Sony Records and President of Hollywood Records. Artists he’s worked with include Alice Cooper, Ornette Coleman, The Screaming Trees, also soundtracks like the Crow: City of Angels and Lion King. He is a founding member/songwriter of Human Switchboard and Tabby Chinos. He lives in Los Angeles with his son.

    Saturday, April 2nd, 7pm

  • Josh Alan Friedman Celebrates Black Cracker 3/29

    Celebrate “Black Tuesday” with Josh Alan Friedman and his autobiographical novel Black Cracker, about his childhood at New York’s last segregated school in the early 1960s. In first grade, your friends are your friends and all that really matters is who can come up with the best doo-doo jokes. But as the lone white boy at the local “colored school,” young Josh is in for some hard — and often hilarious — lessons in readin’, writin’, ’rithmetic and race.

    With its child’s-eye view of controversial subjects, turbulent times and all-too-human frailties, Black Cracker is hard-hitting, heartbreakingly honest and hysterically funny — often all at once.

    Writer-musician Josh Alan Friedman’s eight books include Tales of Times Square and Tell the Truth Until They Bleed; his recordings include Blacks ’n’ Jews and Famous & Poor. Quimby’s welcomes Josh Alan to Chicago for Black Tuesday, an unforgettable evening featuring readings from Black Cracker and a live set of Friedman’s music on atomic acoustic guitar.

    “Friedman splits sides, breaks hearts and always remains ruthlessly honest about the real world, a place that doesn’t conform to the politically correct wishes of liberals or conservatives.”
    — Michael Simmons, L.A. Weekly

    For more info: BlackCrackerOnline.com

    Tuesday, March 29th, 7 pm

  • Burn Collector #15 Zine Release Event with Al Burian, Anne Elizabeth Moore and Liam Warfield on 3/22

    Celebrating fifteen years of publication as well as the appearance of issue number 15, Al Burian returns to Quimby’s to present a new installment of his long-running personal zine Burn Collector. Burian began distributing his work through the tight-knit network of the DIY punk music scene in the mid-nineties. Burn Collector caught on because of its unusual content—in a scene rife with dogmatic diatribes and bland record reviews, Burian presented his readers with humorous anecdotes, philosophical musings, nuanced descriptions of odd locales and curious characters. Burn Collector #15 is the “Berlin vs. Chicago” issue: contents include an essay on the Berlin Wall by Chicago’s Anne Elizabeth Moore, and an interview with Chicago zine hero Liam Warfield, who debunks the myth of the endless techno party.

    Al Burian was a Chicago resident from 2000-2008. His book, Burn Collector: Collected Stories from One through Nine has just been republished by PM Press. He currently lives in Berlin.

    “Al Burian is one of our generation’s great storytellers, a wily and insightful observer of the human condition.”      -Davy Rothbart, Found Magazine and This American Life

    “Al Burian has become one of the most cultishly adored figures in the American punk underground. Burn Collector pairs existential dread with rapacious wit.” -Jessica Hopper, Chicago Reader

    “Al Burian produces zines with a stubborn refusal to write dumbly.” -Sam McPheeters

    Also joining the bill will be BC#15 contributors Liam Warfield (War Against the Idiots, The Skeleton, Secret Beach) and Anne Elizabeth Moore (Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity, former editor of now-defunct Punk Planet)

    Tuesday, March 22, 2011 7:30 pm