Category: Store Events

  • Quimby’s welcomes James Danky, co-author and co-curator of Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics Into Comix

    The impact of American underground comix is profound: They galvanized artists both domestically and abroad; they forever changed the economics of comic book publishing; and they influenced generations of cartoonists, including their predecessors. While the works of Robert Crumb and Art Spiegelman are well-known via the New Yorker, Maus, and retrospective collections, the art of their contemporaries such as Gilbert Shelton, Trina Robbins, Justin Green, Kim Deitch, S. Clay Wilson, and many other seminal cartoonists who came of age in the 1960s is considerably less known.

    Underground Classics (Abrams) provides the first serious survey of underground comix as art, turning the spotlight on these influential and largely underappreciated artists. Essays from the book’s co-writers and co-curators James Danky and Denis Kitchen, alongside essays by Paul Buhle, Patrick Rosenkranz, Jay Lynch, and Trina Robbins, offer a thorough reflection and appraisal of the underground movement. Over 125 original drawings, paintings, sculptures, and artifacts are featured, loaned from private collections and the artists themselves, making Underground Classics indispensable for the serious-minded comics fan and for the casual reader alike.

    James Danky is the author/editor of dozens of books on topics as varied as African-American newspapers, women’s publications, and the Native American press. In 1974 he published his first book, Undergrounds, a bibliography of alternative newspapers. He is on the faculty of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also founded and directed the Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America. In 2007 Danky retired from the Wisconsin Historical Society after building their nationally renowned collections for thirty-five years. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

  • Joey Comeau Reads From Overqualified at Quimby's

    Dear Sirs or Madams . . .    “I wrote a series of letters, many of which appear in the book, and sent them to real companies. I really sent them, and I never got one response, until one day  the police came to my door. They’d been called by the HR department of a company that received one of the letters.”

    Joey Comeau’s startling new novel Overqualified (ECW Press), is told through job application cover letters. But these letters have very little to do with finding work. Joey’s anger and hopes and fears become the focus — he tells jokes when he should be outlining his  relevant job experience; he tells stories about his childhood when he should be talking about his education.   Over the course of this series of letters, a narrative emerges. The reader comes to know Joey through confessions of family secrets and embarrassing sexual experiences. And there’s been a terrible car accident involving Joey’s younger brother.    Overqualified is a funny, unhinged, and angry book — but it’s hopeful, too.

    Joey Comeau writes the comic A Softer World, which appeared recently in The Guardian has been profiled in Rolling Stone, and which Publishers Weekly called, “subtle and dramatic.” He is the author of a previous novel, Lockpick Pornography, and a collection of  short stories, It’s Too Late to Say I’m Sorry.

  • Dan Gleason and Friends Read from Pieces of Paper, Amongst the Words That Rest Upon Them, at Quimby's

    Chicago-based weirdo Dan Gleason once again graces us with his presence and brings some friends to entertain us. Like who else? These fine folks:
    Marc Arcuri: poet/advocate
    Thax Douglas: author/scholar
    Dan Gleason: journalist/hair pie
    Greg Jacobsen: painter/songstress
    Meg McCarville: autobiographer/leading lady
    Mike McPadden: writer/musician
    Dave Tortuga: artist/mover

    Well, what will happen at this event? Here is what Dan told us:

    “Chewing tobacco will be provided.
    (Chewing tobacco will not be provided.)
    Large chunk of melba toast accidentally placed in ear.
    Together we transform into one being that possesses a lot of the same power as that recently cancelled Michel Gondry.
    People should drink.
    Ingrown hair in my left nostril.”

    You don’t want to miss that, do you?
    FREE EVENT

  • Cheryl Wagner Reads From Plenty Enough Suck to Go Around: A Memoir of Floods, Fires, Parades, and Plywood at Quimby's!

    The cliché “New Orleans gets into people’s blood” happens to be very true — just not always convenient. For Cheryl Wagner (along with her indie-band boyfriend, a few eccentric pals, some ne’er-do-wells, and two aging basset hounds) abandoning the city she loved wasn’t an option.  This is the story of Cheryl’s disturbing surprise view from her front porch after she moved back home to find everything she treasured in shambles… and her determined, absurd, and darkly funny three-year journey of trying to piece it all back together again.  In the same heartfelt and hilarious voice that has drawn thousands of listeners to her broadcasts on the public radio program This American Life, Wagner shares her unique yet universal story of rebuilding a life after it’s flooded, dried, died… and then the copper thieves moved in.

    Cheryl Wagner is a contributor to public radio’s This American Life, and her work has also been featured on the Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s The Current and Definitely Not the Opera. Her work has appeared in many print and online publications including Harper’s, McSweeney’s, the Mississippi Review, and Five Dials in London. Her cover stories for the The Times of Acadiana won first place for best continuing coverage of Hurricane Katrina or Rita from the Louisiana Press Association. A Louisiana native, she is a graduate of Tulane University and the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. She lives in New Orleans.

    For more info:
    www.cheryl-wagner.com

    As always, this Quimby’s event is FREE.

  • Michael Roberts & Jason McBeth at Quimby’s

    Touring America through the Spring and Summer of 2009, The Lightning Bug Romantics are 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam runner-up Jason McBeth and Michael Roberts, author of the Puschcart Prize nominated collection “No More Poems About The Moon” (2008 Write Bloody Press).

    As a pair, these two touring performance poets are polar opposites. Peanut butter and Jelly and siamese twins. Michael Roberts is trustworthy, heroically humble, and a recognized saint in seven different religions in 32 languages. He has been the opening act for indie rock bands at the famous Troubadour in Hollywood, has shared the stage with such spoken word legends as Buddy Wakefield, Derrick Brown, and Beau Sia, and recently toured eastern Europe, performing in Prague, Czechoslovakia; Budapest, Hungary; and Split, Croatia.

    Jason McBeth is currently the second ranked performance poet in the world and among the many venues at which he has performed are London’s Globe Theater, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The Western Regional Poetry Slam in Big Sur, and Hollywood’s Da Poetry Lounge.

    In addition to “No More Poems About the Moon,” Roberts contributed to the Write Bloody Anthologies “The Last American Valentine” and “The Good Things About America.” McBeth also contributed to “The Good Things About America” and his first book, The Cities Under Your Tongue’ is to be published this spring by Write Bloody. For more information: www.myspace.com/lightningbugromanticstour
    www.thehopemeat.com
    www.writebloody.com

    FREE EVENT AS ALWAYS!

  • Kevin Christensen Signs The Chair at Quimby's

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    A psychological thriller set on death-row, THE CHAIR focuses on Richard Sullivan, an inmate that has spent the past 10 years awaiting execution for crimes he claims he never committed. But lately strange events have started occurring in the prison, including a piling body count of tortured inmates, a viciously sadistic warden, and enough twists and turns to make Sullivan question his own sanity.  At its core, THE CHAIR is a book about the choices we make in life and how they can affect everything and everyone around us. Written by PETER SIMETI
    Artwork by KEVIN CHRISTENSEN and PETER SIMETI.

    Kevin Christensen is a freelance cartoonist, currently living in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from The Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Sequential Art in 2004, and is currently pursuing a second bachelors degree in art education, from the University of Illinois at Chicago. THE CHAIR is his first graphic novel.

    Go to www.alternacomics.com for more information.
    FREE EVENT

  • Book Release Party With Joe Meno & Friends For Meno’s New novel, The Great Perhaps!

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    In his new novel, The Great Perhaps, local Chicago writer Joe Meno continues to employ his keen observations of human nature, this time exploring the tumultuous landscapes of a contemporary Chicago family. The narrative rotates between members of the Casper family, giving each time and space to dig into their respective quirks. Jonathan, the father, is a scientist caught in a quest for a prehistoric squid and is prone to seizures at the sight of clouds. Madeline, Jonathan’s wife, also a scientist, studies the behavior of her murderous lab pigeons and is distressed by the growing distance between family members: elder daughter Amelia is a teenage anticapitalist crusader already becoming weary of the fight; youngest daughter Thisbe’s desire to find God is met with much concern from her atheist parents; grandfather Henry’s sole desire is to make himself disappear. As the family’s preoccupations rattle on and bang up against one another, the recently begun war in Iraq provides background noise and another dimension to the intricate and intimate tale. Meno’s handle on the written word is fresh and inviting, conjuring a story that delves deeply into the human heart.

    Joe Meno is the best-selling author of the novels Hairstyles of the Damned, The Boy Detective Fails, How the Hula Girl Sings, and Tender As Hellfire. He was the winner of the 2003 Nelson Algren Award for short fiction and is a professor of creative writing at Columbia College Chicago.

    Also performing: Jonathan Messinger, Timeout Chicago Books Editor and author of Hiding Out! Jon Resh, author of Amped and musical accompaniment by The Astronomer!

  • Handmade Electronic Music – The Art of Hardware Hacking Release Party with Nic Collins at Quimby’s!

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    Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking provides a long-needed, practical, and engaging introduction to the craft of making – as well as creatively cannibalizing – electronic circuits for artistic purposes. With a sense of adventure but no need for prior knowledge, the reader can subvert the intentions designed into devices such as radios and toys to discover a new sonic world. At a time when computers dominate music production, this book offers a rare glimpse into the core technology of early live electronic music, as well as more recent developments at the hands of emerging artists. In addition to advice on hacking found electronics, the reader learns how to make contact microphones, pickups for electromagnetic fields, oscillators, distortion boxes, and unusual signal processors cheaply and quickly.

    This revised and expanded second edition is extensively illustrated and includes a DVD featuring 87 video clips and 20 audio tracks by over 100 hackers, benders, musicians, artists and inventors from around the world, as well as 13 video tutorials demonstrating projects in the book. Further enhancements include additional projects, photographs, diagrams, and illustrations.

    What might happen at this event? Maybe some and/or all of the following: an anarchic hacking orchestra composed of multiple uncoordinated performances distributed around the store, each performer using individual small sound systems? Speakers amplifying bent toys, battery-operated mini-amps, video, and demos of a few projects? Who knows?

    Nicolas Collins, an active composer and performer of electronic music, and has worked with John Cage, Alvin Lucier, David Tudor, and many other masters of modern music. Dr. Collins is Professor of Sound at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and has led hacking workshops around the world. Since 1997 he has been editor-in-chief of Leonardo Music Journal. For more info: http://www.NicolasCollins.com

  • A Night of Bizarro Fiction

    Join four authors from the Bizarro fiction movement: D.Harlan Wilson, Andersen Prunty, Eckhard Gerdes and Garrett Cook as they read from and sign their books. The material is sometimes profane, sometimes funny, but always weird and engaging.

    D. Harlan Wilson is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, literary critic, screenwriter, and assistant professor of English at Wright State University-Lake Campus.  His recent books include a novel, Blankety Blank: A Memoir of Vulgaria (Raw Dog Screaming Press 2008), a novella, Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance (Shroud 2009), and a book of cultural theory, Technologized Desire: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction (Guide Dog Books 2009).  Visit him online at www.dharlanwilson.com

    Andersen Prunty is the author of The Overwhelming Urge, Jack and Mr. Grin, Zerostrata, Market Adjustment and Other Tales of Avarice, and The Sorrow King (forthcoming). He naps in Dayton, Ohio. You can call him Andy and visit him on the web at www.andersenprunty.com

    Eckhard Gerdes is the author of several unusual novels, including My Landlady the Lobotomist (a top-five selection for novel of the year in the Preditor’s and Editors Poll), The Million-Year Centipede (a top-ten selection the year prior and a nominee for the Wonderland Award), Przewalski’s Horse (which won the Bissell Award), and Cistern Tawdry (nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year Award). He teaches at Lake Forest College, DePaul University, and Triton College. He has three sons and lives in the Chicago area.

    Garrett Cook is a Bizarro, horror and crossgenre novelist currently residing in Warrenville, IL. While he is not reading submissions for Evil Nerd Empire publishing (www.evilnerdempire.com) or dealing with his duties as Associate Editor of Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens magazine, he is promoting his book Murderland Part 1: H8.

    Other info: find out more about Bizarro fiction at www.bizarrocentral.com