Chicago -
Halloween Comics Recs From Zanadu Comics
“We’ve got some books that will put you in the Halloween spirit such as Bedlam and Ghost, as well as a bunch of other great stuff such as the first Turtles book that Kevin Eastman has done in 20 years.”
Posted on October 31, 2012
Blamed, Punished, Pathologized
“David Patten was born in 1954 with a cognitive disorder (later diagnosed in the Autism Spectrum) that profoundly challenged his ability to process the world around him. Unable to concentrate or learn the basics of reading and writing, he withdrew into an inner world. Because he grew up in a time when his dysfunctions were not understood, David was labeled lazy, stupid, a troublemaker. He was blamed, punished, pathologized, and unable to get the help he needed. By the time he was a teenager, David had drifted into the dark underbelly of American life.
“David attempted suicide at age fourteen, attended one of America’s most dangerous inner city schools for troubled youth, became a drug dealer in Chicago’s criminal underworld, and spent nine months as a virtual prisoner in an abusive experimental psychiatric home. He then spent fifteen years in a spiritual community where he practiced meditation and inquired into the very nature and inherent limitations of identity itself.
“Eventually, David’s exceptional abilities in abstract and analytical thinking, and his acute observational skills, led him to become a highly sought-after crisis manager and trouble shooter traveling around the country debugging computer systems for major corporations and even U.S. military installations.”
Dummy is available November 2012.
Posted on October 24, 2012
A People’s History
Over the transom.
1. Howard Zinn Speaks.
A Book Launch Celebration Featuring Dramatic Readings and Songs, Nov. 9
Friday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m. at Young Chicago Authors, 1180 N. Milwaukee, 2nd Floor, with editor Anthony Arnove, Kevin Coval, Young Chicago Authors, and Special Guests TBA.
Cosponsored by Haymarket Books, Voices of a People’s History, and Young Chicago Authors
Free | RSVP | Facebook
Division Blue Line, Ashland Bus, Milwaukee Bus, Division Bus
More from Haymarket Books:
Posted on October 22, 2012
By Agate Publishing
I’m writing to announce the full-fledged launch of the Chicago Tribune Ebook Collection, a fast-growing library of standalone ebooks published by Agate Digital and created from the Chicago Tribune’s archive of news, feature stories, columns, and photography. We believe this ebook effort – which is now generating an average of seven new ebooks per month – represents one of the biggest and most ambitious forays into ebook publishing by any major newspaper company to date.
The scale of the project is made possible by the sheer breadth of material in the Tribune’s archive, which allows Tribune and Agate editors to develop ebooks on a diverse range of topics. Among these new books are a “best of” collection by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mary Schmich; a retrospective on former Mayor Richard M. Daley; and a variety of cookbooks drawn from the Tribune’s “Good Eating” section. These ebooks are very attractively priced at just $4.99, designed to appeal to the broad (and fast-growing) audience of readers embracing the ebook format on their digital and mobile devices.
Posted on October 16, 2012
By Haymarket Books
In a career that began with a YouTube video corralling millions of views, young Chicago rapper Chief Keef has recently skyrocketed to fame.
In a matter of months, Chief Keef’s most popular song, “Don’t Like” was remixed by Kanye West, while he was on house arrest for a gun charge. Chief Keef has also been signed to a major record deal, and investigated for the murder of a rival rapper – all to the backdrop of increasing gun violence in Chicago and heightened media controversy.
Yet, as poet-educator Kevin Coval writes, “Every institution in Chicago fails Black youth. Segregated and systematically inequitable, Chicago is a town where white kids exist in an increasingly idyllic new urban utopia, and Black and Latino kids weave and dodge through a war zone.
“The largest specter in the spectacle and circus that surrounds the city, Chief Keef has become its poster boy and scapegoat. He is a young man who looks and sounds like thousands of young people in Chicago – reared in a culture of nihilism, death, and capitalism.
“He is a young man who sings the demented measures and results of white supremacy, the legacy and maintenance of grand inequity. Chief Keef sings a tortured and tormented Chicago song. It is a song we need to listen to carefully.”
Posted on October 15, 2012
By Mirko Popadic
“Coming Home is documentary on the creative writing project of The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Videotaped one Friday evening at Grace Place, homeless men who studied poetry, shared their stories with the Makom Shalom congregation.”
Posted on October 12, 2012
Freedom Of Speech vs. The Goverment
“This nice man was holding a sign that read, ‘I’m Just Hungry. I’m Not A Bad Person, I Just Made Bad Decisions.’ Seemed like a nice man. He told us his Best & Worst Thing about America. Hopefully, he is doing better these days. Check out the book and film that grew from this project, more at USAODD.com.”
Posted on October 9, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
“This week marks 30 years of the annual Banned Books Week, and multiple Chicago area libraries and educational institutions are holding readings and discussions,” CBS2 Chicago reports.
“Banned Books Week honors what organizers call freedom to read. The 2012 celebration will be held through Oct. 6.”
The Channel 2 report lists some local events and we’ll add value here by providing some Chicago-related banned book read-outs and inspirations culled from YouTube and a certain movie you might recall.
1. Chicago Public Library’s Teen Volume Banned-Books Read-Out Submission.
“Teens from Chicago Public Library’s Teen Advisory Council read an excerpt of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in celebration of the ALA’s Virtual Banned Books Read Out for 2012!”
Posted on October 2, 2012
