Category > BooksReviews
Keyhole Factory by William Gillespie, 405 pages, Spineless Books, $28. The story of the End of the World in Keyhole Factory begins, innocently enough, at a poetry conference. And that's appropriate, because despite its format as a novel (and also its novel format, but more on that in a minute), Keyhole Factory is poetry at its heart. It suggests, nudges, and paints blurry, horribly beautiful word pictures more than it tells, and it never uses straightforward prose where an allusive …
| I just want to be OK todayOpen me up and you will seeI'm a gallery of broken heartsI'm beyond repair, let me beAnd give me back my broken parts
Michael Kleen has a great fondness for the Midwest, a Master's degree in History, and an insatiable thirst for ghost stories. Lucky for us, he has been able to skillfully combine all of his passions in his new book, Paranormal Illinois. Painstakingly and lovingly compiled, Kleen's books will be sure to become indispensable primers for both Midwestern ghost hunters and local folklore buffs alike. Michael will be appearing at Barnes and Noble this Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. to …
Will Leitch has come a long way since his last book (and his last book tour, in February 2008, when he filled the Author's Corner at IUB to overflowing). As the founding editor of Deadspin, Leitch labored as the designated whipping boy for the rise of sports blogs, even getting a quasi-sensical tongue-lashing from Buzz Bissinger on national TV that brought the phrase "pisses the shit out of me" into our national lexicon. Now, as his book-jacket bio describes, "He …
Wednesday March 17th | Author's Corner | Illini Union Bookstore | 4:30 p.m. As the first annual Early Spring Literary Festival winds to a close almost as quickly as it started, you dear reader, have the chance to meet some of the writers who make the U of I such a unique pocket of literary goodness. In fact, one of the reasons we have to be excited about the ESLF (there's gotta be a better way to abbreviate this thing) …
Give this book to every adolescent girl you know. For Valentine's Day. For eighth-grade graduation. For just being her. Lindsey Markel's You Are Among Friends is the book I wish I read when I was 13, navigating the oily land mines of puberty: periods, zits, popularity, bullies, and body image. At 20 pages, it's a short read, but it's rich with knowing reassurance and encouragement. She seems to say, yeah, adolescence sucks — but you're awesome and here's what I …
Champaign-Urbana is a town fraught in a literary tradition all its own. Sure, if asked to compile a list of top ten literary cities, C-U wouldn't make many lists, but that doesn't keep it from having a unique flavor. The books included on this list are the tip of our literary iceberg — they do not by any means represent a comprehensive picture of C-U's literary landscape over the past decade. Critical Theory, such as Michael Rothberg's Multidirecional Memory or …
The story of Lies My Mother Never Told Me, the new memoir from Kaylie Jones, begins 115 miles southeast of Champaign-Urbana, in Robinson, Illinois. Robinson is the hometown of Jones' father, James Jones, the celebrated author of such WWII-themed novels as From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line. Kaylie Jones will be returning to her East Central Illinois ancestral roots this week, first stopping Wednesday at the Illini Union Bookstore for a reading and signing event at 4 …
A short primer on Michael Czyzniejewski: He's an instructor in creative writing at Bowling Green State University (the one in Ohio, not Kentucky); He wrote a book of short stories called Elephants in Our Bedroom, which was published earlier this year by Dzanc Books He splits his summers between Bowling Green and Chicago, where he's a vendor at Wrigley Field He's a graduate of our very own University of Illinois He'll be reading from Elephants in Our Bedroom this afternoon …
You've had the time of your life here at Urbana-Champaign. At some points it was wild and crazy, at others serious. You learned to think here. You were on your own for the first time. Whether you were an undergrad, or a professional acclimating to the real world, it was here that you became you. For that reason, you owe yourself a Larry Kanfer original. It's lucky for you that Larry Kanfer has another collection of his photographs available …
Most Recent Arts Comments
Karen Vaccaro is a remarkable person as well as a dedicated performer. I couldn’t imagine a better night at theater!
The director should’ve added the wrinkle that the ban on dancing’s the only thing keeping Bomont from attracting the green/tech/jobs of the future!
Now that’s Class!
I have read several of her books and liked them. I guess because I’m not an overweight, lesbian, intersexed Jewish amputee with divorced parents I can’t comment on the offensiveness of some of her jokes.
You forgot to mention fat people. She made fun of obesity. And divorce. Children of divorce were lampooned, too. Jewish people. She hit on a lot of “groups.“ I fit into a number of them. If you didn’t like her speech you won’t like her books. If…
Lesbians: Anecdote about her mom being a lesbian, and getting her mom introduced to Rosie O’Donnell, and mom and Rosie talking about oral sex, and Weiner acting disgusted. She probably meant the disgust in a “don’t wanna hear about my mom’s vag” kind of way, but all…
Oh. Wow. What exactly did she say, Emma? Do you remember?
I went to this. In the first 5 minutes of her talk, she made fun of lesbians, intersexed children, and amputees. I was honestly surprised at how offensve she was—it was like she thought the Champaign Public Library was a venue for Last Comic Standing. I…
Theresa—are you speaking generally about that monologue, or did you attend the Friday night showing at UIUC?
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Most Recent Comments
Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win.
Jason, Savoy could easily join the CPL tax district, which is probably closer to most Savoy residents than the Tolono library is. But my impression is that Savoy residents as a whole don’t want to pay the cost of the CPL (Tolono’s library taxes are cheaper), even…
Sorry, but I am lagging behind on updates to the map. Also, some construction projects were delayed from their original start date. On a more positive note, I am putting together a map of haunted houses in Central Illinois. I have a few plotted already, and I…
I’ve never gotten the privilege of all the services CPL cardholders get. I just want to be able to go out of my way to drive to the CPL to check out books, pay fines, maybe buy some coffee, and enjoy the library. None of those activities…
These days, there is more to using a library than checking out books. At one time, paying into the Lincoln Trails system probably would cover the expenses incurred by other libraries in the system. Now, with Internet, videos, coffee shops, wireless Internet hubs, etc., I suspect the…
(speaking as a Savoy resident) By paying taxes to support a member of the LTLS, we are paying our “fair share” to use any LTLS library—Tolono, Champaign, Urbana, etc. This is how library systems work. The 6% of CPL’s circulation represented by Tolono users is NOT significant…
I read Timbo’s argument. I think the key word is “speculating.“
I would be interested to hear more about the “word on the street”—how are individual hauling companies fulfilling their promise to recycle?
Timbo makes a smart, sound argument. Reread it.
I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…
And, I might add, no one is being prevented from using the Champaign library. They are just being asked to pay their fair share if they are going to use it as their primary library.
The equation is pretty simple here. If you want social services, then pay the taxes required to run those social services. These things only work if everyone puts in their fair share. As a heavy user of the Champaign Library, I say bravo to this new policy.
Curtis Orchard is always good for an hour or three, especially if you have rugrats.
What is the increased marginal cost of serving a resident of Savoy or Mahomet? I suspect negligible. What is the increased revenue to be realized by this new policy? I suspect very little. Aside from these financial aspects, what are the most probable results from this new…
Looks like you are also all members of the killer sideburns club.
Thanks for the article, Ben. I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar. A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…
Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…
@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.
Katie, have the residents of Savoy and Tolono thought about having their taxes raised a little to help their public library expand? That’s a possibility for them. And then everybody wins.
good call on that Herring recording, Josh. Love that version of Exit Music….here’s a clip of the Cinco de Mayo show (from about six months prior). As I recall, this Shakedown went on for roughly a half hour, while getting into the Trampled Underfoot jam in the…
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The main character’s name is actually Lisbeth, in case you want to correct.