Category: store news

  • Happy Birthday To Us!

    We’re 20 years old today! Almost old enough to drink. Definitely old enough to cause some trouble.

    Thanks to Original Quimby’s founder Steven Svymbersky, all the way overseas in Amsterdam, who sent us these flowers with the card that says “Congratulations On 20 Years of Weirdness and Depravity!” We are proud to carry on two decades of mayhem!

    Celebrate with us tonight at our event featuring Rebekah Mercuri reading from her book Weeding the Seeds of Deceit, her book of fiction closely based on her own experiences growing up in a catholic cult. 7pm.

  • September News

    This is pasted in from here: http://bit.ly/nQinZF

    So if for whaterver reason you can’t see the images or have problems with links or reading texts on it, click on that link to see it in all its full glory.

    Also, if you want to receive our monthly e-mail, you can sign up at quimbys.com

    Quimby's Bookstore
    September at Quimby’s Bookstore
    Here’s your September Quimby’s Bookstore news, store events and some notable things we’ve received since the last time you heard from us.And oh! Happy Labor Day. We’ll be open abbreviated hours on Monday, September 5th from noon to 5pm.

    Quimby’s Bookstore Temporary Tattoos Now Available
    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.


    Fouth Episode of the Quimby’s Bookstore Podcast Available Now
    This episode features an interview and discussion with Jon Kristiansen and Tara G. Warrior talking about Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries. It’s available for your listening pleasure, in a variety of formats and places for you to stream or download. And the best part? The podcast is free.

    Dates Announced Fot the Chicago Alternative Expo (CAKE): June 16th-17th, 2012
    Save the date! This will be the debut of CAKE next year on June 16th and 17th at Columbia College’s Ludington Building. This event is focused on celebrating independent and alternative comics of all stripes. The festival plans to feature over 100 exhibitors along with a two-day program of signings, panels, workshops and lectures. With Chicago’s long legacy as a stronghold for underground and alternative comics, the Windy City is an ideal locale to showcase some of the most wild, weird and wonderful contemporary comics talent.


    Anders Nilsen Did Our Window Display
    It’s true. And it celebrates his beautiful Big Questionsanthology that Drawn & Quarterly just published. Thanks, Anders!

    September Events At Quimby’s Bookstore
    For more info about events at Quimby’s, see quimbys.com/blog/store-events/

    Cindy Crabb Reads From The Encyclopedia of Doris
    Sat, Sep 3rd 7pm
    Cindy Crabb has been writing the influential, internationally distributed, autobiographical-feminist zine Doris since the early ‘90’s. Her new book, The Encyclopedia of Doris, brings together the last 10 years of zines and a ton of new writing as well.

    CCLaP Releases American Wasteland: Bleak Tales of the Future On the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11
    Fri, Sep 9th, 7pm
    With all the talk of “hope” and “honor” that was bound to arise during the tenth anniversary of September 11th, the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (CCLaP) thought it was important to also remind the future of what the last ten years have REALLY been like. That’s why the center put together this latest anthology, which took a dark science-fiction conceit as its core and then invited a series of writers across the nation to pen stories set within that alternative universe. Writers in attendance will be Delphine Pontvieux, Mark R. Brand and Lawrence Santoro. (Please note, this event is actually on September 9th.)

    Rebekah Mercuri Reads From Weeding the Seeds of Deceit
    Thurs, Sep 15th, 7pm
    Many of the events experienced by the main character of Rebekah Mercuri’s debut novel echo the true-life experiences of the author, who herself, was involved in a Christian Cult.

    A David Shrigley Double Shot!

    David Shrigley Celebrates What The Hell Are You Doing: The Essential David Shrigley
    Tues, Sep 20th, 7pm
    David Shrigley’s new book of illustrations, comics, photography and sculpture include crude drawings and unexpected compositions that 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. “David Shrigley is probably the funniest gallery-type artist who ever lived.” -Dave Eggers
    David Shrigley Comes to Columbia College Chicago
    Wed, Sep 21st , 6:30pm–9:30pm
    David Shrigley will also be at Columbia College Chicago – Stage Two 618 S. Michigan Ave., 2nd Floor. Quimby’s will be there to sell books!
    These David Shrigley events are co-sponsored by Quimby’s Bookstore, Columbia College and AIGA Chicago.

    The Creative Writing Guild (CWG) Presents: Prompts/Prompted
    Fri, Sep 23rd, 7pm
    The CWG presents it’s latest publication, Prompts/Prompted. The dual issue is a compilation of instructions for experimental writing, and the CWG’s own written results. Five CWG contributors will read selections from the books, explain instructions, and share recent summer writing. Bring a pen and paper. The CWG aims to share experimental and traditional writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago writing community.

    Caroline Paquita of Pegacorn Press Reads and Shows Works with Jo Dery and Edie Fake
    Mon, Sep 26th, 7pm
    Caroline Paquita is releasing the first two official works out on this small, “queer, feminist, total-art-freaker,” publishing house, Pegacorn Press. Using Risograph duplicators to create such works as her comic-zine WOMANIMALISTIC and an annual calendar, this once informal self-publishing venture officially expanded and became it’s own formal entity earlier this year. In celebration, a 2012 calendar will be released, as well as a new comic compilation, featuring some of Chicago’s finest – Edie Fake (Gaylord Phoenix) and Jo Dery (Quietly Sure Like the Keeper of a Great Secret). Fake, Dery and a handful of artists in the U.S. and Germany were asked to create works surrounding the loose theme of of “2012,” and/or “THE FUTURE.”

    Anne Elizabeth Moore Reads From Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh With Sara Drake
    Thurs, Sep 29th, 7pm
    In Anne Elizabeth Moore’s new book Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh, the writer and independent publisher brings her experience in the American cultural underground to Cambodia, a country known mostly for the savage extermination of around 2 million of its own under the four-year reign of the Khmer Rouge. Moore is a columnist for Truthout, and has written for The Progressive, Bitch, Annalemma, Tin House, the Boston Phoenix, and The Onion. The former editor of Punk Planet and the Comics Journal, Moore received a Fulbright to continue her work in Cambodia in 2010, and recently held a solo exhibition at the MCA. Moore will be joined by Chicago cartoonist and writer Sara Drake, currently planning a comics project in Cambodia.

    Save the date! Alison Bechdel comes to Quimby’s 10/8. She’s guest editing The Best American Comics 2011.

    And here’s some news from our sister store, Chicago Comics…

    (Just Some of the)New Stuff This Month at Quimby’s Bookstore
    For weekly updates, see quimbys.com/blog/

    ZINES & ZINE BOOKS!

    Xerography Debt #29 $3.00 – “The review zine with perzine tendancies.
    My Aim is True #2 by Carrie $1.00
    Whore Eyes #4 by Jesse Lowe, Lachlann Rattray and Adam Shaw. Comes with comes with Whore Eyes Comp Govmnt Acid compilation CD (Drippy Bone Books) $11.00
    Minimum Rage: A Series of Bad Events Overflowing With Fuck-Ups Know-It-Alls and Pansies – The Life Story of That Guy Who’s Name You Can’t Remember (Drippy Bone Books) $4.00 – Can I just say that this is on the cover?: “Fuck You Buy It It’s Cheap”? Is that reason enough? No? Maybe this will sell you on it if you know this next fact: One page has a picture of Emo Philips with a trombone around his neck and it says “I still believe Emo Philips is a genius.” What else do you need to know? -LM
    Encyclopedia of Doris by Cindy Crabb (Doris) $18.00 – Issues 19-27 of doris zine, collected, alphabetized and extended for your feminist excitement. Don’t miss Cindy Crabb here at Quimby’s on 9/3.
    Broken Pencil #52 $5.95
    The Inner Swine vol 17 #1 and #2 $2.00
    Rad Dad: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Fatherhood by Tomas Moniz and various (PM Press) $15.00
    Anarchist Organisation Suggestions and Possibilities by Graham Purchase (AK) $2.50
    Mamphiles #4 Raising Hell $6.00
    Red Army Faction the Urban Guerilla Concept $5.00
    Relevence of Anarchism to Modern Society by Sam Dolgoff (Kerr) $4.00
    Return of the Cake Scoffer: Cheap’n’ Easy Vegan Cooking by Ronny $3.50
    Steampunks Guide to the Apocalypse by various $7.00
    Zine About Womens Self Defence #1 Fighting Back, Not Taking Shit Being Heard $3.00
    Anarchist Economics an Alternative for the World In Crisis by Abraham Guillen $5.00
    Compleat Anglerfish by Michelle Yacht $8.00
    Underground Music Fanzines From the Late 1980s-Early 90s by Marc Fischer and Temporary Services (Temporary Services) $5.00 – Public Collectors is founded upon the concern that there are many types of cultural artifacts that public libraries, museums and other institutions and archives either do not collect or do not make freely accessible. Public Collectors asks individuals that have had the luxury to amass, organize, and inventory these materials to help reverse this lack by making their collections public.
    Put a Egg On It #4 Sum Fall 11 $7.00
    Wanderlust Herbal $2.00

    COMICS & MINI COMIX!

    Eye of the Majestic Creature #5 by Leslie Stein $4.00 – Larrybear moves back to New York after having lived in the countryside. Life back in the big city! This issue was featured in outer limits mag Bizarre. First new issue since Fantagraphics compiled #1-#4. And yes, we have that too.
    Comics by Leda Zawacki: Fauna $3.00 and Puddles of Cute: A Comics Collection by $6.00 – Puddles reprints “Monster in the Mansion” from Goat Girl #1 plus 3 other stories:  “Fireflies”,  “Ladybird” and  “Killer Whale People” drawn with a Nicole J. George-ish eye  for  the  strangely  cute. -EF
    One Time Only by Cassie J. Sneider $1.50 – How do you sneak out from a shameful one night stand while the other person is asleep? What if they have really bad wall tapestries? Is hitting rock bottom both depressing and somewhat exciting because that makes you one step closer to resembling Vince Neil? Written by the hilarious Cassie J. Fine Fine Music Sneider and drawn by Nick Rhode. Um no, not Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran. Just Nick Rhode. FYI. -LM
    Cebolla Con Chocolate by Ines Estrada and Rodrigo Simancas (Cafe Con Leche) $8.00 – Absurd burds, wurds, turds and nurds! Inés’ drawings are brillbrilliant and Rodrigo’s writing is smartgood and it also features a lovely contraption from the future. In español.
    various issues of S. Baltic Comics Magazine (various prices)
    Chronicles of Fortune by Caroline Picard $10.00
    Crass Sophisticate Color Cover #24 #25 by Josh Reinwald and Justin Rosenberg $3.00
    Losing Things is Easy a One Off Zine with Original Poetry Drawings and Photos by Franziska Andonopoulos $2.00
    Graffiti Coloring Book vol 1 $20.00
    Stars Were Exploding by Meghan Ansbach $2.00

    GRAPHIC NOVELS & TRADE PAPERBACKS!

    Mome #22 Fall 11 (Fantagraphics) $19.99 – This issue jampacked with Jospeh Lambert, Lilli Carre, Anders Nilsen, Laura Park and more!
    PS Magazine: Best of the Preventive Maintenance Monthly by Will and Ann Eisner and Eddie Campbell (Abrams) $21.95 – It’s a lot like watching Disney WW2 educational army cartoons. -EF
    3×3 Kus: Specializdevums Special Edition $9.00
    We3 HC The Deluxe Edition by Grant Morrison (Vertigo) $24.99
    Too Much Coffee Man Omnibus TPB vol 1 by Shannon Wheeler (Vertigo) $24.99
    Big Questions (soft cover veresion) by Anders Brekhus Nilsen (D&Q) $44.95 – Includes every issue! And there’s a fancy hard cover version as well for $69.95
    Blankets by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf) $39.95 – New deluxe hardcover edition, featuring higher-quality paper, Smyth-sewn bindings, a spot gloss, and a slightly wider trim size.
    Esperanza: A Love and Rockets Book by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics) $18.99
    Hidden by Richard Sala (Fantagraphics) $19.99
    Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi and Jean Patrick Manchette (Fantagraphics) $18.99
    Americus by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill (First Sec) $14.99
    Bake Sale by Sara Varon (First Sec) $16.99

    ART & DESIGN BOOKS!

    Beautiful Decay Book 6 Future Perfect $20.00 – 300 artists riffed on what their ideal future would be and one Grand Prize winner was selected. Over 100 finalist’s work are featured throughout the publication.The book also includes a feature length article with notable, emerging, New York artist, Robin Williams whose surreal paintings give us a view into her very own Future Perfect. Only 1,500 copies were made, all of which are ad-free and hand numbered.”
    Subway Player Blackbook Cult Series vol 2 by MSER (Whole Train) $29.95
    Stencil Graffiti Capital Melbourne by Jake Smallman  and Carl Nyman (MBP) $21.95
    Criminal Class Review vol 4 #2 $15.00 – CCR searches for gritty, hard luck tales from all walks of life. This issue, guest editors identical twins Kent and Keith Zimmerman (who teach literary endeavors at prisons like San Quentin) curate this “Prison Issue.” And the cover is a beauty, designed by Chicago print artist Tony Fitzpatrick.
    Despite Moments of Clarity There Is No -Ism In This Book: 100 New Artists by Francesca Gavin (Laurence) $39.95
    Lets Make Some Great Art by Marion Deuchars (Laurence) $19.95
    General Idea Imagevirus by Gregg Bordowitz (Afterall) $16.00
    Human Nature by Daikichi Amano (Bongout) $50.00 – This book makes me feel sort of throw-uppy but I can’t take my eyes off it, and I kind of want to own it. Marilyn Manson said it best: “Daikichi Amano’s art is a combination of Jean Cocteau and Jacques Cousteau.” -LM
    Graffiti Japan by various (MBP) $21.95

    FICTION!

    How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive by Christopher Boucher (Melville) $15.00 – Welcome to Christopher Boucher’s zany literary universe, a place where metaphors shift beneath your feet, familiar words assume new meanings, objects talk, trees attack, and time actually is money. Modeled on the cult classic 1969 hippie handbook of the same name.
    Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Crown) $24.00
    Machine Man by Max Barry (Vintage) $14.95
    Subversions: Anarchist Short Stories by The Anarchist Writers Bloc (AK) $14.95
    Zero History by William Gibson (Berkley) $16.00 – Now in soft cover. From the author of Neuromancer.LITERARY JOURNALS, CHAP BOOKS & POETRY!

    McSweeneys #38 (Mcsweeneys) $18.00 – Their quarterly concern.
    N Plus 1 #12 Fall 11 $13.95
    Pageboy Magazine III 11 $10.00
    Exact Change Only Sum 11 $10.00
    Granta #116 Sum 11 Ten Years Later $16.99
    So Sorry To See You Go by Carrie McGath $12.00
    Slake Los Angeles #3 2011 Crossing Over A City and Its Stories $18.00

    DIY!

    In Every Town: An All Ages Music Manualfesto (All Ages Movement Project) $14.99 – rom the All-Ages Movement Project comes this fantastic guide to finding a space, apeasing the neighbors, raising money, and getting a scene off the ground. DIY or die!
    Mission Street: Food Recipes and Ideas From an Improbably Restaurant by Anthony Myint and Karen Leibowitz (McSweeneys) $30.00
    SexPot: The Marijuana Lover’s Guide to Gettin’ It On – Sexy Stoner Advice From Cannabis Columnist by Mamakind (Quick) $14.95
    Cannabis Indica vol 1 Essential Guide to the Worlds Finest Marijuana Strains by ST Oner and Greg Green (Green Candy) $20.00
    Marijuana Recipes and Remedies for Healthy Living by Mary Jane Stawell (Ronin) $14.95
    Baked: Over 50 Tasty Marijuana Treats by Yzbetta Sativa (Green Candy) $18.00
    Bumping Back: An Activist’s Guide To Getting There, Doing the Business & Getting Away with It  by L. Hobley (Niccolo) $24.95

    MUCKRACKING, MEMOIRS, MAYHEM, MISCREANTS & MISCELLENOUSNESSESESNESS!

    Secret Societies: Inside the Freemasons Yakuza Skull and Bones Worlds Most Notorious Organizations by John Lawrence Reynolds (Arcade) $14.95 – A smart and surprising behind-the-scenes exploration of the tales confirmed and fabricated that surround the best known and often least understood secret societies.
    UFOs: Generals Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record by Leslie Kean and John Podesta (Three Rivers) $15.00 – Now in soft cover.
    Program Or Be Programmed: Ten Commands For a Digital Age by Douglas Rushkoff with illustrations by Leland Purvis (Soft Skull) $14.95 – From the author of Media Virus, Coercion and Life Inc. Will the internet rule us? Or will we rule the internet? And which is better?
    Fashion Cats:  Feline Couture from Japans Number 1 Cat Tailor by Takako Iwasa (Vice) $12.00 – Yes, this is for real. Takako Iwasa makes adorable goth-lolita clothes for her Scottish-fold kitties, and it’s so cute you want to cry. As originally featured in Vice Magazine.
    Forbidden Sacraments: The Survival of Shamanism In Western Civilization by Donald P. Dulchinos (Autonomedia) $17.95
    Year In the Life of A Factory by Maynard Seider (Kerr) $14.00
    Fxxxing Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel by Dan Sinker and Biz Stone (Simon) $12.00

    POLITICS & REVOLUTION!

    Zapatista Spring: Anatomy of a Rebel Water Project and the Lessons of Internation by Ramor Ryan (AK) $16.00
    Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post 911 Injustice by Alia Malex and Karen Korematsu (McSweeneys) $16.00
    The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists, and Secret Agents by Alex Butterworth (Vintage) $15.95 – A thrilling history of the rise of anarchism, told through the stories of a number of prominent revolutionaries and the agents of the secret police who pursued them.
    Some Mother’s Daughter: Hidden Movement of Prostitute Women Against Violence by The International Prostitutes Collective (Crossroads) $13.99
    Russian Tragedy by Alexander Berkman (Phoenix) $11.95
    Autobiography of Mother Jones (Kerr) $6.95
    Changing Society: The Lives of Worker Heroes Who Made a Difference by Bob Breving (Kerr) $9.00
    Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community by various (Falling Wall) $9.99

    MAGAZINES!

    Maximumrocknroll #340 Sep 11 $4.00
    Bizarre #179 Sep 11 $10.50
    Tattoo Revolution Aug 11 $11.75
    Cabinet #42 Forgetting $12.00
    Tiki Magazine vol 7 #2 Fall 11 $4.99
    Skunk vol 7 #2 $6.99
    Wire #330 Aug 11 $10.99
    Bitch #52 $5.95
    Monocle vol 5 #46 Sept 11 $10.00
    Juxtapoz #128 Sep 11 $5.99
    Fortean Times #278 Sep 11 $11.99

    SEX & SEXY!

    Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance ed. by Mitzi Szereto (Cleis) $14.95
    Housewives at Play #20 by Rebecca (Eros) $4.95
    Anal Intruders From Uranus #4 $3.95
    SPS #9 Sad People Sex by Heather Benjamin $3.00

    OTHER STUFF!

    Inherit 2012 Nikki McClure Calendar $16.00 – Since we started getting Nikki McClure’s calendars in 2004 it’s been a bestseller. And when you see it, you’ll understand why.
    Write Here $8.00 – Nice blank journal made by Cindy Crabb of Doris fame.
    Annual Weekly Planner vol 6 (Little Otsu) $18.00 – 12 Months, 54 Weeks, undated.
    2012 Space Garden Claendar by Apak (Little Otsu) $14.00

    Quimby’s Bookstore is located at:

    Store Hours:
    Mon – Thurs: 12pm – 9pm
    Fri: 12pm – 10pm
    Sat: 11am – 10pm
    Sun: 12pm – 7pm

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  • Quimby's Podcast Episode #4 is up!

    This episode features a discussion with Jon Kristiansen and Tara G. Warrior talking about Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries (Bazillion Points Publishers). Jon started it in Norway in 1985 and put out 20 issues over the span of 25 years. The zine covered a variety of extreme metal bands, including Emperor, Slayer, Kreator, Nihilist, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Cathedral, Entombed, Morbid, Napalm Death, and more. The Onion AV club called Slayer zine founder Jon Kristiansen “one of the best primary sources for facts and stories about Mayhem, Varg, and what really happened back in the day.” The Chicago Reader called this book “a chronicle of death and black metal at their births but also a personal coming-of-age story.” It’s an awesome 744 page hardcover with tons of pictures and reproduction pages from every issue, and there’s even material from the precursor Live Wire zine. It’s also part memoir. Co-editor Tara interviewed Jon all about his experiences with the zine, and then together they decided what to include.

    Yes, we have Metalion: The Slayer Mag at Quimby’s. It is $39.95. You can come and get in the store or order it here on line!

    Jon and Tara were at Quimby’s for a Chicago release event for the book on 6/8/11. But we conducted this interview in our dark and creepy basement beforehand.

    You can listen to all our podcasts quimbys.podbean.com either streaming live or in downloadable formats. Or you can click on the link there to get it on I-Tunes. Or you can just look up Quimby’s Bookstore Podcast on I-Tunes and subscribe to us there.

  • 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