February 24, 2016
This Sunday the “official” Oscars will be presented at the 88th Academy Awards, but here on Off the Shelf, it’s time to unveil the winners of an honor arguably equal in prestige. That’s right, Evanston movie buffs. You’ve cast your ballots and beginning tonight, we’ll be announcing the 2016 winners of the EPL Oscars. First […]
February 21, 2016
Calling all Evanston movie lovers and likers! The 88th Academy Awards are less than one week away, and here on Off the Shelf, we need your help. You see, we want to know who you think should win the big six Oscars of 2016 and why. We’re not asking who you think WILL win but […]
February 11, 2016
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXUx__qQGew You read it, you loved it, you want some more of it! And now Stephen King fans, you’ve got it. This Monday, February 15 King’s fantastic alt-history novel 11/22/63 comes to television as an 8-hour miniseries airing on Hulu. Directed by J.J. Abrams of recent Star Wars fame, the TV adaptation stars multi-hyphenate James […]
July 30, 2015
Summertime is humming along at full tilt, and if you’re anything like us, you can hear the open road beckoning in the July breeze. That’s right, ’tis the season for the great American road trip, and luckily it’s never been easier to blend your warm-weather wanderlust and year-round bibliomania into one amazing August adventure. Atlas […]
July 23, 2015
Yesterday marked the 83rd birthday of outlaw novelist-poet Tom Robbins, and in lieu of cake and candles, we’re celebrating with this candid animated interview courtesy of Blank on Blank. Originally recorded in 1994, the rascally Robbins talks at length about the quirks of his creative approach including how “a raven quill dipped in lizard blood” […]
September 25, 2013
The 24 MacArthur “genius” grants awarded today are given to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.” Among the winners are authors Karen Russell, whose 2011 novel Swamplandia was a finalist for the Pulitzer Award; Donald Antrim, associate professor at Columbia University and author […]
January 6, 2011
The new year is nearly one week old, and by now you’re likely galloping along on a valiant quest to keep your 2011 resolutions. You’ve laced up your new running shoes to conquer that marathon, sprung for Rosetta Stone to finally master French, and even started smelling flowers while taking Bobby McFerrin’s advice. Yet what of this year’s vow […]
November 7, 2010
Chances are good you’ve been there before. It’s a place where the days are sunny, the air is sweet, and the friendly neighbors are on a first-name basis with everyone they meet. The place is Sesame Street, and this month the PBS phenomenon celebrates its 41st year of educating and entertaining children of all ages. […]
September 30, 2010
Charlie Huston is a writer on a serious roll. Over the past year, in fact, the genre-bending author has been riding the literary version of a Vegas hot streak warm enough to make even the coolest Blackjack dealer sweat. For starters, last October Huston published My Dead Body, the much-anticipated final book in his brilliant and brutal “Joe Pitt” mystery series about a hard-boiled vampire PI […]
August 3, 2010
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton may no longer be a household name, but back in Victorian England, he was something of a big shot. Besides serving in Parliament for nearly 25 years, Bulwer-Lytton was a popular and epically-prolific novelist, poet, essayist, and historian who coined the term “the almighty dollar” and claimed Charles Dickens as a close […]
