Jim Mitchell discusses The Walrus and The Elephants: John Lennon’s Years of Revolution 2/13

Feb ’14
13
7:00 pm

WalrusandtheElephants_CoverLarge-196x300

Author and journalist Jim Mitchell will discuss his recently released The Walrus and the Elephants: John Lennon’s Years of Revolution. Jim will be speaking about John Lennon’s early years of social activism, his music with the progressive New York band Elephant’s Memory, and Lennon’s special relationship with Ann Arbor.

 

Based entirely on new interviews and research, The Walrus and the Elephants is the first book about John Lennon to show how his emergence as a solo artist, his embrace of radical politics and feminism, and his love affair with New York City coincided. From controversial television appearances, to benefit concerts, to his new, post-Beatlemania band Elephant’s Memory, Walrus and the Elephants is Lennon’s story told by a cast of close friends and fellow activists from his Greenwich Village days.

 

JAMES A. MITCHELL is the author of But for the Grace: Profiles in Peace from a Nation at War, the story of an orphanage in Sri Lanka’s war-torn northeast; rock biography It Was All Right: Mitch Ryder’s Life in Music; and tales from a rural newspaper, Applegate: Freedom of the Press in a Small Town. A reporter and editor for more than twenty years, his writing has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The Humanist, and Starlog.

 

The Walrus and The Elephants is an indispensable window into an amazing time in American history and the history of rock and roll.”Danny Goldberg, author of Bumping Into Geniuses

For more info:

The book at publisher Seven Stories’ site.

The Facebook event invite.

To arrange an interview with James Mitchell, please contact Ruth Weiner at ruth(at)sevenstories(dot)com or (212)-226-8760.

Thursday, February 13th, 7pm – Free Event

David Witter reads from Chicago Magic: A History of Stagecraft & Spectacle 2/15

Feb ’14
15
7:00 pm

ChicagoMagic

In David Witter’s new book Chicago Magic: A History of Stagecraft & Spectacle (The History Press), he keeps track of the shell game of Chicago’s fascinating magic history from its vaudeville circuit to its contemporary resurgence. By the end of America’s “Golden Age of Magic,” Chicago had taken center stage in front of an American audience drawn to the craft by the likes of Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston. Cashing in on a craze that rivaled big-band mania, magic shops and clubs sprang up everywhere across the Windy City, packed in customers and put down roots. Over the last century, for example, Magic, Inc. has outfitted magicians from Harry Blackstone Sr. to Penn and Teller to David Copperfield. Magic was an integral part of Chicago’s culture, from its earliest venture into live television to the card sharps and hucksters lurking in its amusement parks and pool halls.

David Witter is a Chicago historian and author of the book Oldest Chicago. A native Chicagoan, he attended Louisa May Alcott School (the same grammar school as Marshall Brodien), Lane Technical High School, Columbia College (BA in writing) and Northeastern Illinois University (BA in secondary education). Also a freelance writer and photographer, he is a regular contributor to New City and Fra Noi. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Reader, Living Blues, The Best of the Chicago Blues Annual, the Bay Area Music Magazine, the Copley News Syndicate and Lerner Newspapers.

For more info: danielle.raub(at)historypress(dot)net

Click here for Facebook event posting for this event.

Saturday, February 15th, 7pm – Free Event at Quimby’s Bookstore

New Stuff This Week

tenxten2013overview-585x370cTen x Ten, 2013 Edition, A Collection of Prints and Music by Chicago Artists $35.00 – Ten x Ten is a collaboration between visual artists and musicians exploring visual and auditory interaction. By challenging artists to conceptualize their work across media, Ten x Ten asks participants stretch and expand their creative process. Through producing a limited edition compilation and public presentation of the resulting artworks, Ten x Ten documents, celebrates, and promotes Chicago’s artistic community. Ten x Ten 2013 investigates the relationship between color and sound. Through exploring the underlying concepts of synesthesia, both academically and intuitively, artists and composers have worked together to produce artwork that takes the form of both a fine art print and an original score.  This project is presented by Access Contemporary Music, Homeroom, and Spudnik Press. The collection of prints includes an LP with ten unique tracks, a hand-printed folio, and a plastic protective sleeve. Featured print and song collaborations: Lilli Carre and Michael Miller, Edie Fake and Andrew Tham, Jo Dery and Jude Mathews, Aaron Renier and Brain Baxter, Chad Kouri and Marjorie Rusche, Craig Hansen and Betsy Start, Aaron Maurer and Tim Corpus, Ann Worthing and Amos Gillespie, Angee Lennard and Randall West, Renee Robbins and Seth Boustead.

Zines
Fashionable Activism Photozine #1 Hardcore Punk by Kevin McCaughey $8.00
Annular Obsession b y David Wicik $3.00
Any Questions #1 an Interactive Chicago Comedy Magazine $2.00
Smells Fingers Smells Fingers Smells Fingers by Alicia Rose $2.00

Comics & Comix
Believed Behavior Season 1 $5.00 – With contributions from the likes of KrystalDiFronzo, Edie Fake, Jeremy Tinder, Grant Reynolds, Andy Burkholder, Brad Rohloff.
Good Death vol 1 by Sydney Fletcher $5.00
Castle and Wood issues #1-#7 $4.00 each
Reptile Mind #1 by Bernard Stiegler $10.00

Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks
Prison Pit Book 5 by Johnny Ryan (Fantagraphics) $12.99
Terra Obscura: Smash of Two Worlds by Alan Moore et al. (Vertigo) $24.99
Swamp Thing vol 1 Brian K Vaughan TPB by Brian K. Vaughan et al. (Vertigo) $19.99
Multiple Warheads TPB Book 1 by Brandon Graham $17.99
Ex Machina Book 1 TPB by Brian K. Vaughan et al. (Vertigo) $19.99

Fiction
Mustache Hes Always Wanted But Could Never Grow and Other Stories by Brian Alan Ellis $10.00
Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar $18.00

Politics & Revolution
Our America A Hispanic History of The United States by Armesto Felipe Fernandez $27.95

Magazines
Fool #4 Food Insanity Brilliance and Love $18.00
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Uppercase #20 A Magazine For the Creative and Curious
UPPERCASE-20-COVER-web_052bdfea-bedf-4376-8798-4e88d908863f_1024x1024
Color Ink Book vols 19 & 20 DIY Art Periodical by The Brothers Washburn $10.00 each
Out of Order Win 13 $24.00
V Magazine #87 Spr Preview 14 $7.50
Iron and Air #12 $15.00

That’s it for this week! The polar vortex put a hold on a whole mess of shipments!

Don’t miss our Zlumber Party tomorrow night!

Michael DeForge Talks About Ant Colony 2/8

Feb ’14
8
7:00 pm

anttour-chicagoOn Saturday, February 8th, at 7pm, join Quimby’s and Drawn and Quarterly for the launch of Michael DeForge’s darkly existential graphic novel Ant Colony! In just a few short years, DeForge’s singular, idiosyncratic style has made him an important new voice in alternative comics. Here, he will present a slideshow with a signing to follow.

Ant Colony follows the denizens of a black ant colony under attack from the nearby red ants: from its opening pages, DeForge immerses the reader in a world of false prophets, unjust wars, and corrupt police officers. On the surface, Ant Colony tells the story of this war, the destruction of a civilization, and the ants’ all-too-familiar desire to rebuild. Underneath, though, Ant Colony plumbs the deepest human concerns – loneliness, faith, love, apathy, and more. DeForge’s striking visual sensibility – stark lines, dramatic color choices, and brilliant use of page and panel space – stands out in this volume.

 

ANTCOLONY_cover

More info about Michael DeForge:

http://michaeldeforge.wordpress.com/

http://kingtrash.com/

Click here to see Facebook event invite.

Also! Santullo’s Eatery down the street (1943 W. North Ave) has generously agreed to provide pizza for the occassion! For more info about their delicious New York style pizza see santullos.com.

santullos

DEFORGEselfp

New Stuff This Week

xeroxferoxXerox Ferox: The Wild World of the Horror Film Fanzine by John Szpunar (Headpress) $34.95 – Xeroxferox is the first book to cover the horror film fanzines and the culture they spawned…XEROXFEROX traces the rise of the horror film fanzine, from the Famous Monster-starved kids of the 1960s to the splatter-crazed gorehounds of the Fangoria generation.

zines & zine-related
Put a Egg On It #8 Win 13 $7.00
Vintage Pin Up Girls $10.00
Halfling Zine #2 2013 $7.00
I’m Definitely Not Going On Tour: Stories and Thoughts From the Race Riot Tour (Think About the Bubbles #9) by Joyce Hatton $2.00
Moral Fiber #9 by Chris Pernula $2.00
Queer Art Activism – various issues by Miyuki Baker $4.00 each
Book of Myths Book #52 by Dan Gleason abnd Theresa Currie $3.00
Last Night at the Casino #6 Dec 13 by BJ McCall $2.00 – Zinester turned card dealer in Vegas!
KerBloom #105 Nov Dec 13 by Artnoose $2.00

comics & comix
Henry and Glenn #4 Forever and Ever by Igloo Tornado and friends $5.00
Last Playlist by Marta Chudolinska $7.00
King Cat #74 by John Porcellino $4.00
New Comics #2 by Patrick Kyle $8.00
The Next World Over by Ian McDuffie $6.00
Blackwax Boulevard  #1 by Dmitri Jackson $5.00

graphic novels & trade paperbacks
Kid Mafia Digest by Michael Deforge (Secret HQ) $10.00 – Collects issues #1-3 of Kid Mafia. Don’t miss Michael DeForge here at Quimby’s Feb 8th!
Qu33r New Comics From Thirty threee Creators $29.99 – Includes work from Edie Fake, Marian Runk, MariNaomi, Diane DiMassa, Ed Luce, Kris Dresen, Carrie McNinch, Nicole Georges and more!

art & design
The Graffiti Cookbook: Complete Do It Yourself Guide to Graffiti by various $29.95
Ed Hardy Interviews by V. Vale  (ReSearch Publications) $14.99

For Kids
Atop a Hill in Frostville by Daniel Frost (ittle Otsu) $15.95

fiction
Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein by Dave Zeltserman $14.95
Sounds of War: Iraq Attack of Thomas Edington by Thomas Ferreolus $10.00
Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki $16.00

sexy
Delicious Torment a Story of Submission by Alison Tyler (Cleis) $16.95
Study in Fetishisms vol 1 Manifesto $18.00
Transformation #88 $12.50
RFD #156 Win 13 $9.95

music-related
Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot by Masha Gessen $16.00

politics & revolution
Diaries of an Unfinished Revolution: Voices From Tunis to Damascus by Layla Al Aubaidi and Matthew Cassel $17.00

mags
Cabinet #51 Wheels $12.00
Design Bureau Jan Feb 14 $8.00
ArtForum Jan 14 $10.00
Dwell Feb 14 $5.99
Hi-Fructose #30 $7.95
Skeptic vol 18 #4 $6.95
Skeptical Inquirer Jan Feb 14 vol 38 #1 $4.95
American Atheist 1st Quarter 14 $4.95
True Crime Dec 13 $8.99
Ladygunn #8 $9.99
Dapper Dan #8 Fall Win 13 $10.99
Boneshaker #43-400 A Bicycling Almanac $8.00
Sofilm #2 Dec 13 $9.99
Wax Poetics #57 $11.99
Maximumrocknroll #368 Jan 14
Mojo #242 Jan 14 $9.99
Uncut Special: Neil Young $13.99
Tattoo Traditional Special #10 From Tattoo Life $9.99
Our Tattoos vol 3 Best Tattoos From the Worlds Best Artists (WP Tattoo Series 4) $9.99

poetry, lit journals & chap books
Boulevard of Broken Discourse by Matthew Freeman $11.95
Tombo by WS DiPiero (McSweeneys) $20.00
The Paris Review #207 $15.00
Creative Nonfiction #50 Fall 13 Win 14 $10.00
Six By Six #29 Reduced to Survival $5.00