Category: store news

  • Quimby's Temporary Tattoos

    For the longest time, people have asked us if we have temporary tattoos. And often, they look at our business cards and say, “Oh, is that a temporary tattoo?” When we tell them they’re just our business cards, they get sad, and then they say, “You should totally do temporary tattoos.” Well! The people have spoken. And we listened. So here they are. Come in and get yours. Then take a picture and add it the Quimby’s Bookstore Group on Flickr.

  • David Shrigley comes to Quimby's 9/20!

    David Shrigley – Live and in person! 9/20 7pm at Quimby’s

    and 9/21 at Columbia College

    WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? The Essential David Shrigley

    “David Shrigley is probably the funniest gallery-type artist who ever lived.” -Dave Eggers

    “With a casual gesture Shrigley points to that hideous shape whose name I’ve never known—and then he names it. And the name is profoundly, embarrassingly familiar. I’m laughing while frantically searching for a pen, so desperate to capture the feeling he has unearthed in me.” -Miranda July

    David Shrigley is the rare artist that can comfortably walk the fine line between pop culture and high art. While he’s animated videos for musicians such as Blur and Bonny Prince Billy, his work can also be seen in world renowned museums such as MoMA and the Tate Modern, and his highly distinctive style has been on display in galleries in New York, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, and beyond. He is also clearly a madman.

    The aptly named WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING: The Essential David Shrigley [W. W. Norton & Company; October 24th, 2011; $35.00 hardcover] is an outrageous compilation of his illustrations, comics, photography and sculpture. His crude drawings and unexpected compositions are at once childish and clever, and each depiction oddly sincere. They capture the morbid humor of Edward Gorey, the absurdity of a Monty Python sketch, and the peculiar perspective of a Charles Addams cartoon. In short, this beautiful, full color collection is an indispensible introduction to one of contemporary art’s most fascinating and provocative minds.

    The pieces in this book are an eclectic and encompassing representation of Shirgley’s interest in the surreal. From a photograph of a hot dog (affixed with googly eyes and tucked comfortably into bed) to childlike drawings of humanity’s most grotesque members (a man drinking a goblet of blood, captioned simply with “CHEERS!”) this book is a both a celebration of condemnation of humanity’s most base urges, fears, and delights.

    WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? is remarkably bold, and Shrigley leaves no topic untouched. Through colorful commentary, he explores everything from clowns to caffeine, sexuality to God, and all the delightfully inappropriate bits in between. You would be hard-pressed to find, in any other work of art, a match to Shrigley’s satirical brilliance. As Will Self points out in the introduction, “Shrigley’s photographic works suggest the refined eye of someone sent back from the future beyond the looming apocalypse, charged with assembling images that, while ostensibly of the mundane, nonetheless explain how it came to pass that humanity destroyed itself.” By turns unsettling, moving, and gut-wrenchingly funny, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? is a revealing glimpse into an offbeat, darkly comedic, and utterly hilarious artistic mind. For more info: davidshrigley.com/

    Also, click here for a hilarious animated video abut the book!

    Tues, Sept 20th, 7pm here at Quimby’s Bookstore 1854 W. North Ave., Chicago

    Wed, Sep 21st , 6:30pm – 9:30pm at Columbia College Chicago – Stage Two 618 S. Michigan Ave., 2nd Floor — Quimby’s will  be there to sell books!

    These events are co-sponsored by Quimby’s Bookstore, Columbia College and AIGA Chicago.

  • 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

  • Undisclosed Location Mysteriously Offers Items You Might Want

    Yes! We Have Tons of Other Stuff at An Undisclosed Location You Can Mail Order and Get 25% Off

    Want to support an independent bookstore but want to buy something you think Quimby’s might not ordinarily sell? Want to mail order a mainstream-y title but want to be discrete about it? Well you’re in luck. Click here to mail order from over more than one million book, DVD, CD and videogame titles available and get them shipped directly to you, with discounts up to 25% off!

  • Quimby's on the FLOG!

    Thanks to Fantagraphics consumer marketing/web editor/hand model guy Mike Baehr who wrote about our limited edition Chris Ware print on FLOG! aka as the Fantagraphics Blog.

  • Borders Is bankrupt. So let us order the book you want.

    It’s true. With Borders crossing over into the border of being Border less we can still whatever book you want (if it’s in print and the distributors we go through have it).

    Like what, for example? Like this for example…

    The Renegade History of the United States

    by Thaddeus Russell

    This people’s history of ‘merican scoundrels, nogoodniks, misfits and criminals. This is the balls-to-the-wall version of the U.S. of A. you really do wish you learned about in school. A nice hardcover for only $27.00.

  • 2nd annual Long Arm Stapler Award nominations open!

    Last year, Quimby’s Bookstore created the Long Arm Stapler Award to highlight accomplishments in self-publishing.  The award was presented to QZAP, the Queer Zine Archive Project, at the opening night of the Chicago Zine Fest.  As this year’s Chicago Zine Fest approaches, we’ve refined the award process a little, and would like your input.  We are seeking nominations for both the recipient of this year’s Long Arm Stapler Award, as well as nominations for two members of the jury, which will select this year’s recipient.

    Quimby’s Long Arm Stapler Award is an annual honor bestowed upon a group or individual dedicated to self-publishing and the first amendment. Each year’s recipient must show the following qualities:

    • enthusiasm for and commitment to self -publishing, which includes active participation at some level of self-publishing.
    • cause for inspiration within other self-publishers.
    • a high level of quality in output.

    The Long Arm Stapler Award should not be viewed as a competition, but as Quimby’s celebrating one of the forms of media that makes our store unique.  The utilitarian nature of the award –an actual long arm stapler- is meant to focus this honor as a form of recognition and encouragement of the work the recipient has done for self-publishing, and as an attempt to bring self-publishers together to celebrate one of their own.

    The award’s jury will be comprised of Quimby’s employees, any interested recipient of the Long Arm Stapler Award for the past five years, and up to two individuals nominated by the public.

    To nominate a group or individual for either the award or the jury, email us at info[at]quimbys.com, with your nomination and a brief reason for the nomination.

    • Nominations for the jury are due by February 15, 2011
    • Nominations for the award are due by February 21, 2011
    • The award will be presented at the Chicago Zine Fest’s Karoke party at Quimby’s Bookstore on March 25, 2011

    Did we mention we’re having Karaoke here on March 25th?

    Card by B.T. Livermore http://www.bigtimeillustration.com/
    Card by B.T. Livermore http://www.bigtimeillustration.com

  • Quimby's closed for the day, wed 2/2

    Quimby’s will be closed today, Wed, 2/2. Stay home and work on your zine! See you after the blizzard!

  • QUIMBYS IS CLOSING EARLY!

    I don’t know why I was yelling…

    Due to the blizzard, we’re closing at 5pm today, Tuesday, February 1.

    Depending on the weather, we may or may not be open tomorrow (Wednesday, the 2nd, groundhog day).  We encourage you to call ahead at 77-342-0910 to see if we’re open.Have fun in the snow!

  • Quimby's December Events and News

    To see the newsletter, click here or on the teaser image below.

    Want to receive our monthly e-mails about events and new stuff (and whatever else)? Go to quimbys.com and submit your address.