Plus: The Little Wetback & Secrets Of Palos Hills

1. Gangstanomics.
“Former OG Harold ‘Noonie G’ Ward is set to release his second book with a foreword written by 50 Cent and an afterward by Diddy,” HipHopWired reports.
“With Gangstanomics, Ward wants to educate his readers on how politicians, the corporate world and street world work hand in hand. Ward explores the parallels between the street world and the corporate world and explains how the two segments of society cannot exist without the other.”
True enough. But here’s the payoff:

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Posted on September 30, 2014

Plus: Bookman Down & The People Of The Paper

“In his memoir Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead, Chicago author and former right-wing extremist Christian Picciolini shows readers how a well-loved 14-year-old kid from an immigrant Italian family became a leader of the early American racist skinhead movement,” according to a press release from Picciolini’s Goldmill Group.
“He was the lead singer in the first white power band from the United States to perform in Europe. He attended KKK rallies and cross burnings, was kicked out of four different high schools – some twice – and stockpiled weapons so, if necessary, he’d be ready to fight the United States government to protect the white race from annihilation.
“In his book, Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead, Christian Picciolini, now a music industry veteran and peace advocate, faces his past with brutal honesty in the hope that by exposing his own crimes, others may live in peace.
“Picciolini has also committed to providing free copies of his book for all 16,000 United States public libraries if the 30-day Kickstarter campaign for Romantic Violence garners over $100,000 in pledges. Currently, the initial goal of $7,500 was exceeded within 48 hours of the campaign’s launch.
“Picciolini left the American racist movement in 1995 before earning a joint degree in international business/international relations from DePaul University in Chicago and co-founding the peace consultancy Life After Hate.”
The pitch:

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Posted on September 23, 2014

By The Guild Literary Complex

Diverse voices lead to stronger communities, and the Guild Literary Complex is dedicated to featuring Chicago’s varied chorus. The Guild continues our 25-year legacy by piloting a new series featuring Asian-American authors and themes. I Come To Your Country, Name Me, the first of this series, takes place Wednesday, September 24, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s LeRoy Neiman Center (37 South Wabash Avenue, first floor). Similar to our monthly Palabra Pura reading series, this event will kick off with an open mic reading, beginning at 7 p.m.
This reading features three Chicago authors whose works address themes of identity, home, and the immigrant experience: Rachel DeWoskin, Mary Anne Mohanraj, and Deepak Unnikrishnan. It is held in conjunction with (and co-presented by) the Kriti Festival – a three-day festival of literature from authors of Desi background and of the Asian Diaspora. The event is also co-presented by Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Posted on September 19, 2014

Now Available From Southern Illinois University Press

A harrowing historical journey, a poignant family memoir, and an ardent case against Big Coal, by an award-winning writer.
“This is a world-shaking, belief-rattling, immensely important book. If you’re an American, it is almost a patriotic duty to read it.” – Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
“Part historical narrative, part family memoir, part pastoral paean, and part jeremiad against the abuse of the land and of the men who gave and continue to give their lives to (and often for) the mines, [this book] puts a human face on the industry that supplies nearly half of America’s energy [and] offers a rare historical perspective on the vital yet little considered industry, along with a devastating critique of the myth of ‘clean coal.'” – Publishers Weekly
*
Set in the ruins of his family’s strip-mined homestead in the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois, award-winning journalist and historian Jeff Biggers delivers a deeply personal portrait of the overlooked human and environmental costs of our nation’s dirty energy policy.
Beginning with the policies of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, chronicling the removal of Native Americans and the hidden story of legally sanctioned black slavery in the land of Lincoln, Reckoning at Eagle Creek vividly describes the mining wars for union recognition and workplace safety, and the devastating consequences of industrial strip-mining.
At the heart of our national debate over climate change and the crucial transition toward clean energy, Biggers exposes the fallacy of “clean coal” and shatters the marketing myth that Southern Illinois represents the “Saudi Arabia of coal.”
Reckoning at Eagle Creek is ultimately an exposé of “historicide,” one that traces coal’s harrowing legacy through the great American family saga of sacrifice and resiliency and the extraordinary process of recovering our nation’s memory.
The trailer:

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Posted on September 17, 2014

Shadows and Freedom

1. Chicago Portraits from the Tribune due out September 15th.
From the press materials:
“For more than 100 years, the prize-winning photographers at the newspaper have been documenting life in Chicago. Along the way, they’ve amassed an unmatched collection of photos of the city’s denizens and visitors. The resulting photo archive is a priceless assortment of the famous, infamous, and otherwise fascinating subjects who have lived in – or just passed through – Chicago.

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Posted on September 3, 2014