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8/1: Caseen Gaines presents We Don’t Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy!
Great Scott! Come celebrate the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future along with award-winning author Caseen Gaines. He is returning to Quimby’s Bookstore to discuss and sign copies of his brand-new book, We Don’t Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy, which has been featured in Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, People Magazine, Vulture, and positively reviewed by NPR and Library Journal.
We Don’t Need Roads includes original interviews with Zemeckis, Gale, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Huey Lewis, and over fifty others who contributed to one of the most popular and profitable film trilogies of all time. It’s the ultimate read for anyone who has ever wanted to ride a hoverboard, hang from the top of a clock tower, travel through the space-time continuum, or find out what really happened to Eric Stoltz after the first six weeks of filming.
Complete with rare and previously unreleased photographs, fans of the timeless can learn all they didn’t know about Back to the Future – by those who caught lightning 30 years ago.
“Caseen Gaines has written a very compelling and enjoyable history of our trilogy. Reading it was like going back in time. And – Great Scott – there were even a few anecdotes that I’d never heard!” – Bob Gale, co-creator, co-producer, and co-writer of the Back to the Future trilogy
“The most enlightening and informative book I’ve read since Grays Sports Almanac. Every true fan of the Holy Trilogy should own a copy. It’s your density.” – Ernest Cline, bestselling author of Ready Player One
Invite your friends with the Facebook post for this event!
For press inquiries, contact Mary Pomponio, mpomponio(at)penguinrandomhouse(dot)com
Saturday, August 1, 2015 at 7:00pm
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Revel in PRIDE and MARRIAGE EQUALITY with Some Rad GLBTQ Reading Material
With the pantheon of parades, marches, BBQs, pool parties and seasonal events summer can be exhausting – especially during Pride and ESPECIALLY now that we’re celebrating the SCOTUS marriage equality ruling. But don’t forget – there’s still much work to be done. Stimulate your mind and get your chill time on with a little GLTBTQ-centric sustained silent (or not so silent) reading. Pop a squat on your favorite recliner and kick the dogs up on the ottoman with these beautiful babies.
Meat #16: No need to bust out the briquets for this meat. These hunky dudes are flammable enough on their own. And well done, if I might add. Browse themed pictorials and go gaga for smokin’ dudelies of all stripes and facial hair patterns. This meat sure does sizzle. Ow ow.
Original Plumbing #12: Break out the glow sticks and the punchbowl! Party party partytime is what it’s all about in the nightlife issue of OP. Take a trip back with a retrospective of party pics from OP parties past. Even more fun awaits! OP #12 has DJ set photo spreads, showbiz legend Murray Hill and cute as a button husbands Spencer and Kelly. All kinds of interviews with dynamic trans male folks plus NEON.
SSLM vol 19: This issue of Same Sex Life Magazine is going to the chapel and you better believe it’s gonna get married, hunty. Love indeed is in the air. Worried about when to book that venue, do a tasting with a fancy caterer or where to get your décor and paper goods? Fret not, future spouse for SSLM has a handy dandy wedding planning timeline for you in this issue. Single? Take a gander at some newly married cuties in adorbs wedding announcements and try not to roll your eyes at their unending happiness.
Calling Dr. Laura: A personal, well-drawn graphic novel all about writer and artist Nicole George’s life. Karaoke hosting, queer identity, body issues and the struggle for love all mingle in a healthy thematic soup to create a moving, compelling narrative. Nicole’s storytelling is witty, snug and relatable with plenty of heartstring-tugging childhood flashbacks.
Gaylord Phoenix: Accomplished cartoonist and former Quimby’s staff member Edie Fake constructs a narrative of monsters, rivers of geometry, magical transformation and the possession of raw carnal lust. The verbage is sparse and occasional horror vacu is massive and transcendent. Black and white and red all over.
New Lesbian Sex Book: The third edition of Wendy Caster’s seminal primer on all things lady love gets downright dirty. Fun activity ideas and tutorials abound. In its dictionary-style pages, learn the lesbian ABCs including everything from armpit stimulation, (yes armpits need love too) to the more well-trodden subjects of gender and genitals. The letter of the day is V for victory with this sultry guide.
Berlin Gay Mates: Bom-chicka-wow-wow. Paris may be for lovers but Berlin is for sex-ers, amirite? Photographer Karim Konrad peppers his spreads of full frontal dude hotness with whimsy and fun. Kind of like if a bin of Happy Meal toys exploded into your favorite after hours gay club. Colorful and ecstatic. Who knew naked guys could be so fun?
Pinocchio: Chicago’s own Elliott Junkyard’s fun and fresh story serves as a primer for a trans journey. Elliott tackles everything from mis-gendering, to pronoun politics to personal identity beyond the binary. Readable, relatable and super adorable.
-Nicki Yowell
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Please Excuse Our Mess: Quimby’s is Upgrading!
Hello dear lovers of all things printed. The staff at Quimby’s wants to give you an update about the goings on at the store.
DID YOU KNOW that we’ve used the same computer operating system since 1999? Wow, yeah, I know.
But things are quickly changing here at Quimby’s. We have brand new computers and a brand new system to ring people up, check in merchandise, monitor sales and all the other Quimbly things we do here at the store.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? It means we have a lot of files to move over and a lot of work to do, as the entire staff needs to be trained to use the new system.
For you, dear customer, it means it may take us a bit longer to ring you up, answer your questions or fulfill your mail order.
And, dear consigner, it means it’s going to take us a while to get your new items out into the store and to pay you out for titles sold. BUT FEAR NOT. We have all your info on hand. It’s just going to take us a hot minute to transition.
PLEASE BE PATIENT with us as we weather this exciting new phase of Quimby’s. Think of it as Quimby’s 2.0. New and improved.
SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER: If you’re a consigner looking to check in, get back in touch with us in July, maybe even mid-month. Have new stuff to send to the store? You’re more than welcome to still snail mail and bring stuff by in-person. But, hey, if you’re able to sit on it for a bit and give us a chance to get caught up, we’d sure appreciate it.
We’ll still be the same Quimby’s you remembered, just a bit faster, at least once all of this is through. No, no, we don’t have a self checkout now and we don’t accept bitcoin or anything. Let’s be real, OK?
All of these changes will help us serve you better as you shop, give you a better experience with consignment and, ultimately, make the store even more weirdly awesome, just as you like it.
Thanks for being gentle with us. We appreciate it!
<3 Your Favorite Quimbsters
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New Stuff This Week
Cometbus #56 1/2 by Aaron Cometbus $3.00 – This issue is devoted to Aaron’s friend Sue who he knew thorugh the punk scene, a tattoo artist with a terminal illness, who writes about it in her own words. Thoughtful and succinct. -LMZines
Zine Club #2 by Alyson $6.00
Natural Basic Guide to Working With Self Herbs and Crystals 2014 by Itshanapa $3.00Science or Something $5.00
Comics & Minis
zines by Marian Runk: Thaw $4.00, Plastic Feathers, Porcelain Fur $12.00 – Portraits of animals SO CUTE I CAN’T HANDLE HOW CUTE IT IS. -LM
Comics for Nothing by Noel Freibert $6.00
Cartozia Tales issues #1-#6 $6.00 each
Eschew #4 by Robert Sergel $6.00
Sequential Vacation #2 by Sar Shahar $6.00
Drawing Board #2 by CHIPRC (Chicago Publishers Resource Cetner) & friends $2.00
Boring Comics by Emily Hutchings (Bred Press) $5.00
Man of Few Worms by Jacob Sluka (Grossbus Comics) $2.00
Kevin Budnik comics: Hand Book issues #1 & #2 $5.00 each, Keep Circulating the Tapes: A Mystery Science Theater 3000 Zine $4.00 – In a not too distant past, Kevin did a self-imposed experiment where he watched every episode of MST3K while drawing at least one iconic character a day, including B movie monsters, Joel and Mike’s friends on the Satellite of Love, robots and more. Plus: Servo end papers! Cambot, give me rocket number nine! -LM
Graphic Novels & Trade Paperback
Stroppy by Marc Bell (D&Q) $21.95 – The first full-length graphic novel from the author of Shrimpy and Paul: Who will win the All-Star Schnauzer Band song contest?
Adventure Time Banana Guard Academy by Pendleton Ward $19.99Clover Honey (Artists Cut, 20th Anniversary Edition) by Rich Tomasso (Alterna Comcis) $14.95
Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito (Viz) $17.99
Brain Camp by Susan Kim, Laurence Klaven & Faith Erin Hicks (Squarefish) $9.99
Essays
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari $28.95 – Comedian Aziz Ansari teamed up with a sociologist to study how people hook up. Unsurprisingly, it’s really funny while being informative as well. With pie charts too!
Music Books
Crate Digger: An Obsession With Punk Records by Bob Suren (Microcosm) $14.95 – Don’t miss Bob Suren here at Quimby’s August 17th at 7pm, reading from his memoir of thirty years in the D.I.Y. punk scene. There are stories about touring, recording studios and record stores. There are stories about success, failure, disappointment, self-actualization and heartbreak. There are 60,000+ words, 192 pages and 39 photos. The story takes place over three decades in nine countries on four continents. There are nine deaths, two basset hounds and one love poem. There are special appearances by Jello Biafra, Ron Reyes (possibly), Tesco Vee, Joey Shithead, Cheetah Chrome and one very serious FBI agent.
Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in The Alice Cooper Group by Dennis Dunaway & Chris Hodenfield $26.99
DIY Books
Hot Pants: Do It Yourself Gynecology by Isabelle Gauthier and Lisa Vinebaum (Microcosm) $9.95
Urban Homesteader: How To Create Sustainable Life in the City Box Set (Microcosm) $29.95 – Live your own revolution! Books included in this set: Make It Last by Raleigh Briggs, Make Your Place by Raleigh Briggs Homesweet Homegrown by Robyn Jasko.Politics & Revolution Books
Writing on the Wall: Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu-jamal, ed. by Edited by Johanna Fernández (City Lights) $17.95 – Mumia Abu-Jamal’s essential perspectives on black experience, race relations, freedom, justice, social change, and the future of American society.
Teenage Rebels: Stories of Successful High School Activists, From the Little Rock 9 to the Class of Tomorrow by Dawson Barrett (Microcosm) $11.95
Magazines
Cabinet #56 Win 14 15 Sports $12.00
Shots #128 Sum 15 $7.25
Kinfolk vol 16 Essentials Issue $18.00
Frankie #65 $14.95
Drift vol 2 $24.00 – A mag about coffee in different cities! This issue: Tokyo!
Bad Day #19 $12.00
Harpers Magazine Jul 15 $6.99
Lit Journals & Chap Books
Taddle Creek #35 $5.95
After Hours #31 Sum 15 Journal of Chicago Writing and Art Afterhours $10.00
Stuff Of Song by Richard Wehrenberg Jr. (Monster House Press) $3.00
Deadpan by Alex Mussawir (Monster House Press) $4.00
Kids Books
Edmond the Moonlit Party by Astrid Desbordes & Marc Boutavant (Enchanted Lion) $17.95
Other StuffBeautiful Creatures Tarot by JR Rivera and Jasmine Becket-Griffith $34.99
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Off-Site: Quimby's Selling Anders Nilsen's Poetry Is Useless at Poetry Magazine Release Party at the Poetry Foundation
Don’t miss Quimby’s at the launch party celebrating the newest issues of Poetry magazine, its contributors, readers, and the poetry curious. The POETRY Summertime PARTY, celebrating Poetry magazine’s June and July/August 2015 issues, features readings and visual presentations from contributors Erika L. Sánchez, Amy Newman, and Anders Nilsen—followed by a “useless” Q & A with Poetry editors Fred Sasaki and Lindsay Garbutt and a performance by musical guest KSRA. Quimby’s will be there selling issues of Poetry Mag as well as Anders Nilsen’s new book Poetry Is Useless!This free, all-ages bash features snacks from Lula Café, book sales courtesy of Quimby’s, and a GlitterGuts photobooth. Grab the newest issues of Poetry and take advantage of special subscription offers, plus a book signing with Anders Nilsen for his forthcoming title Poetry Is Useless. Performances begin at 7:00PM.
Amy Newman’s most recent books include On This Day in Poetry History (forthcoming) and Dear Editor (Persea Books, 2011). She teaches at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Her poem “Howl” appears in the July/August issue.
Anders Nilsen is the artist and author of, most recently, Poetry Is Useless (2015) and Rage of Poseidon (2013), both published by Drawn & Quarterly, and The End (Fantagraphics Books, 2013). His comics appear in the July/August’s “The View from Here” portfolio.
Erika L. Sánchez is a Fulbright Scholar, CantoMundo Fellow, and winner of a 2013 “Discovery”/Boston Review Poetry Prize. Her poem “Narco” appears in the June issue.
With special musical guest KSRA. Producer, singer, and songwriter KSRA (pronounced que sera) is known for her performances featuring sampling and killer operatic soul vocals. Her single “Bad Habit,” featuring Talib Kweli, is available through her website, ksramusic.com.
Please note! This event is NOT at Quimby’s! It is at:
Poetry Foundation & Poetry Magazine61 W Superior St, Chicago, Illinois 60654
More information at http://poet.ly/OoRVM -
New Stuff This Week
Usually we get about 75 new items a week. With CAKE being last weekend, we have over 150 new items! This list is but only a sample!
Zines
Fallopian Falafel #16 by by Hadass S. Ben-Ari $3.00
Purple Myrtle Squeegy #10 Apr 2015 A PMS Perzine $1.50
Best of Gene Lubin $1.75 Excerpts from the author’s best lesser-known novels.
After the Ball: A Zine about Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats by Paul Reilly $4.00
Chasing Posada: A Macabre Populist in the City by Ryan Standfest $10.00
Mono Rot #1 by David Becker $6.00
Projected Gore Monstrous Mothers the Sublime and Inside a L’interieur by Piss Off Productions $7.00
Alamo Igloo #23 2015 by Keith Herzik $12.00 – Mad scientist-artist Keith Herzik’s 2015 screenprinted zine offers a collage of shapes and colors that pop and gurgle. There’s even different sizes of paper bound in. Is it possible to convert a candy shop to a screenprinted zine? Because that’s apparently the alchemy that Herzik possesses. Who knows what goes on in his mind? Best not to ask, only appreciate. -LM
War is War is War #2 by Jason File $3.00
Acid Boy by Matt Z. $.50
Journal of Aesthetics and Protest #9 Spr 15 Tectonic Disobedience $20.00
Comics & Minis
Sky is Falling: A Short Comic About Interstellar Philosophy and Eggs and Eryn Williams $2.00
Every Night by Batskank $7.00
Rotland Inquiry #1 Charlie Hebdo, edited by Ryan Standfest / designed by S. William Schudlich $10.00 – The Critical Organ of Rotland Press in tabloid form, by editor/publisher Ryan Standfest, straight outta Detroit. With critical essays and art examining the content of and media responses to the French weekly “Charlie Hebdo.” With contributions by Stéphane Blanquet, Hugleikur Dagsson, D.B. Dowd, Mort Gerberg, Jeet Heer, Danny Hellman, David Hughes, Paul Krassner, Mark McKinney, Tony Millionaire, Leigh Phillips, Martin Rowson, Johnny Sampson, Mahendra Singh, Art Spiegelman and Matthias Wivel.
Providence Comics Consortium comics: Buddies 2015 Yearbook Anthology $8.00, PCC Showcase, various issues, $5.00 each: #16 Invisible Toilet, #17 (With Alison Rutsch & Brendan Tobin), #20 Washington Park Library Sep 2014, Sparkle #1 Apr 15 by Arthur Middleton & Caitlin Cali, Math Warriors #1 Kill All Math Haters Always Pet Cats, Baboon Banana Dog and Other Stories
New Nightmare and Sleepy in Borrowed Time by Peter Faecke $4.00Titan #1 Francois Vigneault (StudyGroup) $4.95
Twenty First Century Tank Girl #1 by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin $3.99
It Will All Hurt #1 by Farel Dalrymple (StudyGroup) $8.00
Secret Voice #2 by Zack Soto (StudyGroup) $8.00
Blubber #1 by Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics) $3.99
Baseline Blvd by Emi Gennis $8.00
Cricket $10.00
A Letter For You by Fiona Avocado $4.00
Poly Glot Cunning Linguist Love Life Comics by Hazel Newlevant $3.00
If This Be Sin s by Hazel Newlevant $10.00
Goodbye Or the State Of Nature by Ben Passmore $5.00
Hello Stranger Travel Comics by Robin Ha $7.00
Brandon’s Car World by Eddy Rivera $5.00
Ley Lines $5.00 each: Thank God I Am in Love by Cathy G. Johnson, Unholy Shapes by Annie Mok, Golden Smoke by Warren Craghead
Butch Pony Tail #2 by O. Hovarth $5.00
Then What by Robyn Jordan $4.00
Lyric Sheet by Kevin Czap $1.00
Inaction Comics #1 Productivity by Anderson Kimball $12.00
Cyanide Milkshake #6 by Liz Suburbia $2.00
various issues of Rotland Dreadfuls, $4.00 each: vol 2 #1 Red Swan by Marc Brunier-Mestas, vol 1 #4 Make It Look Fancy by Gregory Jacobson, Trie Scream Pig Trie by Chris Cilla, vol 1 #7 Headlines by Onsmith & Sanya Glisic
A Giant’s Rant by Jo Dery $3.00
New issues of Coin Op, $6.00 each:The Morning After the Day the Music Died & Dial Nine For an Outside Line
Culture Guide by Faye H. Kahn $8.00
Space Opera #1 & #2 by Sam Szabo $2.00 each
Blown Away #1 by Alyssa Jo Varner $5.00
Soft Violence by Danielle Chenette $7.00
Its Still Happening a Sequel by Theora Kvitka $5.00
Lightning Peach Trees by Alex Kostiw $4.00
Cum Lung issues #1-#3 by Aaron Manczyk $4.00 each – Time traveling in a, erm, adult fashion.
Grixly issues #32 & #33 by Nate McDonough $2.00 each
Plush #3 by Brett Maning $5.00 – Tasty treat! It’s the third installment of Brett Manning’s uber cutetastic, colorful, magickal and fun minicomic Plush. Replete with mystical beings, trippy fruit and sassy critters, this drippy installment may just give you a toothache, friend. Find your true self with a quiz worthy of a witchy version of Sassy mag entitled “are you perhaps maybe actually a magical, ethereal being?” A spirited yet refined sugar rush.-NY
Hi Mom I’m Going to Chicago by Hanna Pirita Lehkonen $2.00
Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks
Finnish comics!: Without You by Hanna Pirita Lehkonen $7.00, Hirsute Hazard $15.00, Team Parvelo 5 v Artbook anthology $10.00, Lepakkoluola $15.00
Grip: The Strange World of Men by Gilbert Hernandez (Dark Horse) $19.99
Adventure Time: The Flip Side by Pendleton Ward $19.99
Art Masters Series: Pablo by Julie Birmant& Clement Oubrerie (Self-Made Hero) $27.50
Eat That Toast by Matt Czap $19.95
Towerkind by Kat Verhoeven (Conundrum) $15.00
Mike’s Place: A True Story Of Love Blues and Terror In Tel Aviv by Joshua Faudem & Jack Baxter (First Second) $22.99
Fiction
My Eyes Are Black Holes by Logan Ryan Smith $10.00
Household Spirit by Tod Wodicka $26.95
Book of Numbers by Joshua Cohen $28.00
Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions For a Better Future ed. by Ed Finn and Kathryn Cramer $15.99 – Stories by authors such as Cory Doctorow, Gregory Benford, Elizabeth Bear, inspired by the author Neal Stephenson, an anthology of stories, set in the near future.
Viral by Emily Mitchell $15.95
Humor
English is Not Easy: A Visual Guide to the Language by Luci Gutierrez $18.00
Neighbors From Hell: An American Bedtime Story by Jan Frel & Jon Dolan, illustrations by Taras Kharechko (Feral House) $14.95 – Neighbors From Hell finds itself nestled in the “children’s book for adults” niche in the vein of Go the F*ck to Sleep. The book tells the story of the real life monsters in America who could be living next door, people like a repo man, a reality TV star, or a slumlord.
Essays & Memoirs
Brooklyn the Black by Asha Veal Brisebois $13.00 softcover or $24.00 hard cover
Preparing the Ghost: An Essay Concerning the Giant Squid and Its First Photographer by Matthew Gavin Frank $14.95
Mayhem
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek MD MD and T.J. Mitchell $16.00
Feral Cities: Adventures with Animals in the Urban Jungle by Tristan Donovan $16.95
DIY
Paper Ninja: Thirteen Easy to Make Ninjas, Plus Full Sized Master Killer Dojo and Weapons by Daniel Stark and Chris Carfolite (PowerHouse) $14.95
Politics & Revolution
2 Noam Chomsky titles from Haymarket Publishing! Culture of Terrorism $19.00, On Power and Ideology: The Managua Lectures $16.00
Magazines
Bitch #67 $6.95
Majestic Disorder #4 $18.99
Laphams Quarterly vol 8 #3 Sum 15 $17.00 Philanthropy
Hip Mama #57 $5.95
Little White Lies #59 Truth and Movies $12.99
Shock Cinema #48 $5.00
Atlantis Rising #112 $6.95
Ladygunn #11 Wiz Khalifa the Discovery Issue $9.99
Cannabis Now #15 $7.99
Victory Journal #9 Youth $16.00
Modern Farmer #8 Sum 15 $7.99 – Did you hear the news? The new goat!
Monocle vol 9 #84 Jun 15 $12.00
The Big Takeover #76 $5.99
Man of the World #12 Michael Huisman $20.00
Lit MagsNinth Letter vol 12 #1 Spr Sum 15 $14.95
Brick #95 Sum 15 A Literary Journal $15.00
The Oxford American #89 Sum 15 Fiction Issue $6.95
Sexy
Meat #17 $20.00 – Men in and out of their trousers while in and out of the shower and pools while in and out of each other! Plus: a Q & A with The Backyard Boys Harley McGuire and Dearon South, who agreed that the one thing that would improve their quality of life is a swimming pool in the backyard. I couldn’t agree more. But it would be nice if they were in it. -LM
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Bob Suren reads from Crate Digger: An Obsession with Punk Records 7/17
Crate Digger: An Obsession with Punk Records is a funny, honest and personal memoir of thirty years in the D.I.Y. punk scene. There are stories about touring, recording studios and record stores. There are stories about success, failure, disappointment, self-actualization and heartbreak. There are 60,000+ words, 192 pages and 39 photos. The story takes place over three decades in nine countries on four continents. There are nine deaths, two basset hounds and one love poem. There are special appearances by Jello Biafra, Ron Reyes (possibly), Tesco Vee, Joey Shithead, Cheetah Chrome and one very serious FBI agent."Really brings to life the early days of the American punk scene as it spread slowly across the country, through turntables, fanzines, and word of mouth. His vivid vinyl recollections illustrate how good record stores and adventurous college radio stations were so essential in bringing startling new music into the lives of many previously isolated kids. It follows the trajectory of a kid as his passion for music became all-consuming."
– Jeff Nelson, Minor Threat and Dischord Records
"A fun, easy-to-read, personal narrative of 30 years of living through "Punk Rock" - finding records, going to concerts, making discoveries, and a myriad of other experiences - that help the reader "make sense" of a still-inspiring cultural revolution and breakthrough "philosophy of life" that spawned the current "entrepreneurial culture" (where everybody wants to start their own "start-up"). D-I-Y, indeed..."
-- V. Vale, founder of SEARCH & DESTROY and RE/SEARCH Publications
Bob Suren has written for numerous underground music magazines over the decades such as Maximum Rocknroll, Engine, Seven Inches to Freedom and published his own magazine, Heavy Rotation. Crate Digger is his first book.
For more info: microcosmpublishing.com or surentime(at)gmail(dot)com
Fri, July 17th, 7pm -
Sophie Goldstein Reads From The Oven 7/10
In Sophie Goldstein’s new book The Oven (AdHouse Books), she talks about a hopeful and dystopian future. Ozone depletion and dwindling resources have driven the human race into domed cities where population controls are strictly enforced. When a young couple goes looking for an anti-government paradise in the desert they may have found more than they bargained for.“Sophie Goldstein’s artwork looks very simple, but it’s the kind of simplicity that’s complexity boiled down to a potent concentrate.” –Douglas Wolk, NYTimes.com
Sophie Goldstein is a 2013 graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies. In 2014 she won an Ignatz Award for her mini-comic, House of Women, Part I. Her first book Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell, co-written with Jenn Jordan, was self-published in 2013 with funding from Kickstarter. Her second book, The Oven, was released by AdHouse Books in April, 2015. Sophie has also illustrated a children’s book, Poopy Claws, written by Gene Ambaum. Her work has appeared in various publications including Best American Comics 2013, The Pitchfork Review, Maple Key Comics, Sleep of Reason, Symbolia, Trip 8 and Irene 3. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA.
For more info: redinkradio.com
Friday, July 10th, 7pm – Free Event
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Ben Tanzer and Jonathan Travelstead read from The New York Stories and How We Bury Our Dead With Zoe Zolbrod and Seth Berg 7/7
In 2006, celebrated author Ben Tanzer began working on a series of short stories all set in the fictional upstate New York town of Two Rivers, most of them published in various literary journals over the years and eventually collected into the three small volumes Repetition Patterns (2008), So Different Now (2011), and After the Flood (2014). Now for the first time, all 33 of these stories have been gathered in The New York Stories, for what is already being recognized as career defining collection.“With great humor and the natural voice of your closest confidant, Ben Tanzer brings us stories set in our shared fictional hometown of Two Rivers, NY. With tenderness and heart, Ben brings us real people and their poignant, messy struggles, reminding us of the folly of our youth and the beauty in even our most mundane histories. Though my family left when I was small for the big city, Tanzer has given this reader the gift of a sliding door here, and I think you’ll feel the same way, wherever you’re from.” – Elizabeth Crane, author of We Only Know So Much
Winner of the 2013 Cobalt Poetry Prize for his poem “Trucker,” Jonathan Travelstead has compiled an astounding collection of adrenalized poetry. How We Bury Our Dead is a narrative work which follows a single speaker as he jumps from one intense situation to the next in order to avoid his mother’s struggle with cancer. An Air Force firefighter, he volunteers to accompany his unit to Kuwait, and, after returning and still unable to cope, he hitchhikes his way across Alaska before finally going home.
“Jonathan Travelstead maps the quest for his elemental “end points and beginnings.” Doing so, he spans topography as various as Southern Illinois strip mines, automobile accident scenes, and Iraqi battle zones. What results are narratives that bare-knuckle gut-punch easy redemption. These poems honor the dead and the dying, refusing to avert the eye from certain explosion. It’s no wonder the keenest offer “prayers” for hand tools that do something palpably useful, say, prying open the wrecked heart’s flaming chariot of half-spoken desires.” —Kevin Stein, author of Wrestling Li Po for the Remote
Tanzer and Travelstead will be joined Zoe Zolbrod, author of the acclaimed novel Currency (Other Voices Books, 2010) and poet Seth Berg, co-author of The Aviary, the recent Twin Antlers Prize for poetry from Artistically Declined Press.
For more info: Ben Tanzer: tanzerben(at)gmail(dot)com
Tuesday, July 7th, 7pm – Free Event
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Offsite: Quimby’s Night at LiveWire Lounge: 3 Songs, 3 Writers Reading About Those Songs 6/28
The LiveWire Lounge (3394 N Milwaukee) asked Quimby’s to curate a night at their lounge. So this is what we’re bringing, a themed mix of reading and music with a very specific focus.
Ben Tanzer, reading about The World’s a Mess by X
Shay DeGrandis, reading about Ever Fallen In Love by the Buzzcocks
Paul Durica, reading about Children of the Revolution by T. Rex
All 3 songs performed by The Blue Ribbon Glee Club
Original Readings by:
Ben Tanzer is the author of the books 99 Problems, My Father’s House, You Can Make Him Like You, Orphans, which won the 24th Annual Midwest Book Award in Fantasy/SciFi/Horror/Paranormal and a Bronze medal in the Science Fiction category at the 2015 IPPY Awards, and Lost in Space, which received an Honorable Mention in the Chicago Writers Association 2014 Book Awards Traditional Non-Fiction category, among others. He has also contributed to Punk Planet, Clamor, and Men’s Health, serves as Senior Director, Acquisitions for Curbside Splendor and can be found online at This Blog Will Change Your Life.
Shay DeGrandis is an artist, writer, producer, administrator, well-meaning amateur therapist, and accidental comedian. She produces and hosts the Chicago edition of Mortified, a comedy show of “personal redemption through public humiliation.” Helping performers bring to light their most awkward adolescent writing, she persuades them to share their shame with strangers. Shay also likes to share her own shame both on stage and off and has, in fact, fallen in love with someone she shouldn’t have fallen in love with . . . multiple times. You can see what the results look like at shaydegrandis.com
Paul Durica is a teacher, writer, and public historian. Since 2008 he has been producing a series of free and interactive public history programs under the name Pocket Guide to Hell. These talks, walks, and reenactments use costumes, props, music, and audience participation to make the past feel present. Paul has collaborated on programs with a range of cultural institutions from across Chicago including the Jane Addams Hull House Museum, Chicago History Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Gallery 400, Smart Museum, and Sullivan Galleries among others. Paul’s writing on Chicago history and culture has appeared in Poetry, The Chicagoan, Mash Tun, Lumpen, and elsewhere and, with Bill Savage, he is the editor of Chicago By Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America (Northwestern UP, 2013). pocketguidetohell.com
The Blue Ribbon Glee Club is Chicago’s punk rock a capella glee club, and regularly performs songs by Fugazi, Gang of Four, the Dead Kennedys, the Buzzcocks and more.
Please note: This event is NOT at Quimby’s. It is at the LIVEWIRE LOUNGE | 3394 N MILWAUKEE AVE, CHICAGO, IL
Sun, June 28th, 6pm
