September 11, 2012
EarlyWord reports that according to the NY Times a veritable glut of new titles from “superstar” authors will be arriving, some of whom haven’t published a book in years. Considering I heard an interview with Junot Diaz this morning on NPR about “This is How You Lose Her” (which was interesting because Diaz explained his […]
September 10, 2012
For Ken Follett fans, this September 18th is something of a holiday. Yes, in only nine short days Winter of the World – the eagerly anticipated second book in his ambitious Century Trilogy – will hit library shelves to the delight of legions of readers. Picking up right where the bestselling Fall of Giants left off, […]
September 5, 2012
According to this New York Times article, architect Frank Lloyd Wright saved almost every sketch or drawing he ever did, including “a doodle on a Plaza Hotel cocktail napkin of an imagined city on Ellis Island, and his earliest pencil sketch of the spiraling Guggenheim Museum”. When he died in 1959 all of his papers […]
September 4, 2012
In this recent Chicago Tribune article, Ellen Jean Hirst reports on a copy of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray returned 78 years late. As I posted here last month, the Chicago Public Library had instituted a “Once in a Blue Moon” amnesty running from August 20th through September 7th, so, luckily, the patron […]
September 1, 2012
We are happy to welcome Barbara Freeman back to EPL this month for a brand-new Local Art @ EPL exhibit. After making her library debut in 2010, the local photographer and film director has returned with an intimate exploration of Illinois’ rural communities titled smalltown: faith, flags, & firearms. You can catch this inspired series […]
August 30, 2012
This month for Poetry 365 we’re highlighting Michael Robbins’ defiantly inventive debut Alien vs. Predator. Described as “equal parts hip-hop, John Berryman, and capitalism seeking death and not finding it,” these 55 strange, darkly funny poems are as impressive for their formal precision as they are for their frenzied name checking of everyone from Auden, […]
August 30, 2012
In recent meetings with book publishers, Jeremy Greenfield, editorial director of Digital Book World, says some believe continuing and even expanding ebook offerings to libraries will help their business. Others are not so sure. Greenfield was one of the guests on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show earlier this week which was devoted to the topic of library ebook lending. Susan […]
August 28, 2012
Worldcon is starting in a few days–this is one of the major science fiction gatherings of writers and fans. The Hugo Awards (World Science Fiction Society) will be announced and you will be able to see a real astronaut! (For those of you who are interested in etymologies, the Worldcon site discusses the roots of […]
August 27, 2012
Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang won the $200,000 Steinberg award for playwriting, considered the most generous prize in theater. He said the award will allow him to focus primarily on writing plays. He is finishing a new work inspired by the life of Bruce Lee, “Kung Fu,” which will be staged Off Broadway in […]
August 24, 2012
Better Late Than Never An F. Scott Fitzgerald story rejected 75 years ago is finally published in The New Yorker. Recently discovered by Fitzgerald’s grandchildren, “Thank You for the Light” is a short, fable-like vignette turned down in 1936 for being too unlike his other work. See what you think. Reports of My Death are […]
