For Chicago Magazine

Kevin Nance

Dominic Smith on ‘The Last Painting of Sara de Vos,’ 17th century Dutch art

May 9, 2019 at 6:04 p.m.

Certain periods of history have proved to be catnip to contemporary historical novelists. Medieval and Victorian England, the settling of the American West, both world wars — all have been...

Which came first, the writing or the sobriety? Author Augusten Burroughs answers that question as he examines three romantic relationships in "Lust & Wonder."

Augusten Burroughs’ memoir ‘Lust & Wonder’ looks at love, sobriety

May 9, 2019 at 6:03 p.m.

Augusten Burroughs has never been one to hold back. In his best-selling memoirs "Running with Scissors" (2002) and "Dry" (2003), Burroughs is scrupulously candid about his remarkable life, in which...

Jung Yun interweaves traditional parenting, true crime in debut novel ‘Shelter’

May 9, 2019 at 6:02 p.m.

There are easier things than raising a child. But how might that difficulty be magnified, to the point of near-impossibility, when one's own childhood — specifically your relationship with your...

Matthew Desmond’s ‘Evicted’ details cost of evictions on Milwaukee’s poor

May 9, 2019 at 6:01 p.m.

When you're spending more than half your income on rental housing — up to 70 percent of your income, as is the case with much of the working poor —...

Mark Leyner on his semi-autobiographical novel, ‘Gone with the Mind’

May 9, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.

No one could ever accuse Mark Leyner of being in a rut. With his restless imagination, his eye for the absurd and his occasionally ribald humor — he's best known...

Rick Bass on his new story collection, ‘For a Little While’

May 9, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.

Although Rick Bass has written novels — including "Where the Sea Used to Be" (1998) and "Nashville Chrome" (2010) — his reputation as a major American writer rests on the...

Paul Goldberg indulges in revisionism new novel ‘The Yid’

May 9, 2019 at 5:59 p.m.

In various corners of academia, revisionist history is a minefield, an intellectual playground and a bit of a slur. It's been used both to correct the historical record — many...

Fiona Barton on thriller ‘The Widow,’ journalism background

May 9, 2019 at 5:59 p.m.

In "The Widow," British journalist Fiona Barton's grimly compelling debut as a thriller novelist, an investigative reporter named Kate Waters has her eyes on a prize: an interview with the...

Stephen Harrigan on ‘A Friend of Mr. Lincoln,’ complexity of Honest Abe

May 9, 2019 at 5:58 p.m.

About five years ago, the Texas-based novelist Stephen Harrigan and his wife embarked on a long road trip that took them through Springfield, Ill. As a writer of historical fiction...

Ruta Sepetys on ‘Salt to the Sea,’ sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff

May 9, 2019 at 5:58 p.m.

In her first novel, the international best-seller "Between Shades of Gray" (Philomel, 2011), Ruta Sepetys was inspired by the history of her father's homeland of Lithuania, where in 1941 many...

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