Tag Archive for 'books'

Elizabeth Crane reads from You Must Be This Happy to Enter at Quimby’s!

Feb ’08
7
7:00 pm

THE FIRST STOP ON A NATIONAL TOUR!

Join Elizabeth Crane for her hometown launch event, as she reads from her new book You Must Be This Happy to Enter.

Denial, god, dystopia, academia, and reality TV collide in acclaimed author Crane’s third story collection, and the latest installment from Akashic’s Punk Planet Books imprint.

“Crane has a distinctive and eccentric voice that is consistent and riveting.”
New York Times Book Review

“Crane is funny, even when her subject is pain . . . There’s an energy and immediacy to [her] stories that make them feel as if they could have been delivered in one beautiful, raw rant over a bottle of wine. A night reading them is well spent.”
–Entertainment Weekly

Whether breathlessly enthusiastic serenely calm, or really concentrating on their personal zombie issues, Crane’s happy cast explore the complexities behind personal satisfaction. You Must Be This Happy to Enter exists in a world very much like our own but infused with more joy and magic. It’s a place where the happy are jailed, the sincere cause confusion, and pop culture so seamlessly melds with real life that characters can walk right out of the television and come live with you.

Crane’s third collection, aims to convey something fresh in literature: utter sincerity. With a trademark mix of hyperreality, humor, and heartfelt emotion, You Must Be This Happy to Enter asks readers to connect with the loopy ways of her characters. Because even though they’re occasionally severed from reality, they still seem to know something you don’t about keeping upbeat in a strange and crumbling environment.

ELIZABETH CRANE is the author of two previous story collections, When the Messenger Is Hot and All This Heavenly Glory. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the Chicago Reader and The Believer, as well as several anthologies, including McSweeney’s Future Dictionary of America and The Best Underground Fiction. A winner of the Chicago Public Library’s 21st Century Award, Crane teaches creative writing at Northwestern’s School of Continuing Studies, the School of the Art Institute, and the University of Chicago. She lives in Chicago.

Eugene S. Robinson discusses FIGHT at Quimby’s Bookstore

Jan ’08
11
6:00 pm

 

 

Friday, January 11th at 6:00 PM


FIGHT

Join Eugene S. Robinson as he reads and discusses his new book Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking. Crushing your enemies, driving them before you, and hearing the lamentations of their women? It doesn’t get any better than this.”
–Eugene Robinson, ripping off John Milius

That’s the sentiment that surges just below the surface of Eugene Robinson’s Fight – an engrossing, intimate look into the all–absorbing world of fighting. Robinson – a former body–builder, one–time bouncer, and lifelong fight connoisseur – takes readers on a no–holds–barred plunge into what fighting is all about, and what fighters live for. If George Plimpton had muscles and had been choked out one too many times––this is the book he could have written.

When Robinson and his fellow fighters mix it up, they live completely for the moment: absorbed in the feel of muscles slippery with sweat; the metallic tang of blood mingling with saliva in the mouth; the sweet, firm thud of taped knuckles impacting flesh. They fight because it feels good. They fight because they want to win. And even if they get their asses kicked, they fight because they love fighting.

Fight is part encyclopedia, part panegyric to fighting in all its forms and glory. Robinson’s narrative – told in his trademark tough–guy, stream–of–consciousness noir voice – punctuates this explanatory compendium of the fighting world. From wrestling, jiu–jitsu, boxing and muay thai to bar fighting, hand–to–hand combat, prison fighting and hockey fights, from the greatest movie fight scenes to how to throw the perfect left hook, Fight is a scene–by–scene tour of the bloody but beautiful underworld that is the art of fighting.

With his aficionado’s enthusiasm and fast–paced, addictive voice, Robinson’s Fight combines compelling text with beautiful photographs to create an illustrated book as edgy and interesting as it is gorgeous.
Eugene Robinson
Eugene Robinson has written for GQ, The Wire, Grappling Magazine, LA Weekly, Vice Magazine, Hustler, and Decibel, among many others. He has also been Editor-in-Chief of Code and EQ. He grew up in New York City, where he first understood the surreal joy of a bloody nose obtained through fighting. The 6′ 1?, 235-pound Robinson has worked in magazine publishing, film, and television. He has studied boxing, Kenpo karate, Muay Thai (mixed martial arts), wrestling, and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Robinson is also the vocalist and front man for Oxbow, a rock group-cum-fight club whose most recent album, The Narcotic Story, will be released in 2007. He lives in the San Francisco area.

Eugene S. Robinson discusses FIGHT at Quimby’s!

We know you’re psyching yourself up for the holidays, all song and buttered rum, but when it’s all said and done, what are we Chicagoans left with? Yep, you got it: dirty ice, frigid temps, and an hour of sunlight (if you’re lucky) for seemingly endless months. So please keep this event in your pocket — we have a feeling you’ll be needing it soon enough.

 

Friday, January 11th, 6:00 PM

FIGHT: Everything You wanted to know about fighting....

Join Eugene S. Robinson as he reads and discusses his new book FIGHT: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking.

“Crushing your enemies, driving them before you, and hearing the lamentations of their women? It doesn’t get any better than this.”
–Eugene Robinson, ripping off John Milius

That’s the sentiment that surges just below the surface of Eugene Robinson’s Fight – an engrossing, intimate look into the all–absorbing world of fighting. Robinson – a former body–builder, one–time bouncer, and lifelong fight connoisseur – takes readers on a no–holds–barred plunge into what fighting is all about, and what fighters live for. If George Plimpton had muscles and had been choked out one too many times––this is the book he could have written.

When Robinson and his fellow fighters mix it up, they live completely for the moment: absorbed in the feel of muscles slippery with sweat; the metallic tang of blood mingling with saliva in the mouth; the sweet, firm thud of taped knuckles impacting flesh. They fight because it feels good. They fight because they want to win. And even if they get their asses kicked, they fight because they love fighting.

Fight is part encyclopedia, part panegyric to fighting in all its forms and glory. Robinson’s narrative – told in his trademark tough–guy, stream–of–consciousness noir voice – punctuates this explanatory compendium of the fighting world. From wrestling, jiu–jitsu, boxing and muay thai to bar fighting, hand–to–hand combat, prison fighting and hockey fights, from the greatest movie fight scenes to how to throw the perfect left hook, Fight is a scene–by–scene tour of the bloody but beautiful underworld that is the art of fighting.

With his aficionado’s enthusiasm and fast–paced, addictive voice, Robinson’s Fight combines compelling text with beautiful photographs to create an illustrated book as edgy and interesting as it is gorgeous.
Eugene S. Robinson
Eugene Robinson has written for GQ, The Wire, Grappling Magazine, LA Weekly, Vice Magazine, Hustler, and Decibel, among many others. He has also been Editor-in-Chief of Code and EQ. He grew up in New York City, where he first understood the surreal joy of a bloody nose obtained through fighting. The 6’1″, 235-pound Robinson has worked in magazine publishing, film, and television. He has studied boxing, Kenpo karate, Muay Thai (mixed martial arts), wrestling, and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Robinson is also the vocalist and front man for Oxbow, a rock group-cum-fight club whose most recent album, The Narcotic Story, will be released in 2007. He lives in the San Francisco area.

Julia Wertz at Quimby’s (part umpteen)

I've got nothing better to do / than have a fart party with you

Sam Prekop signs PHOTOGRAPHS at Quimby’s!

Nov ’07
17
7:00 pm

Sam Prekop signs PHOTOGRAPHS at Quimby’s!

Saturday, November 17th, 7:00 PM

Join Sam Prekop as his signs copies of his new art book Photographs.

This is the first photography book by front-man of the band, The Sea and Cake and all-round artist Sam Prekop. A monochrome photographic journey into Sam’s observation of Chicago cityscape where he resides combined with his continuous spontaneous experiments with geometrical patterns. Experience the subtle and fleeting beauty of the moment.
Comes with CD of original instrumental music by Sam Prekop.

COMMENT ABOUT THE BOOK:

As a long-time admirer of Sam Prekop’s music and his paintings, I was surprised to find that he also takes photographs, though I wasn’t surprised to discover that they share the same relaxed, unpretentious beauty of his more familiar work. To me, the images in this book perfectly capture the utilitarian litter and clutter of Chicago life both inside and out, though distilled into moments of happenstance clarity by his sharp, and apparently unerring, artistic discrimination.
– Chris Ware, 2007

BIO:
Singer-songwriter Sam Prekop is a man of diverse and impressive talents. During the past decade, Prekop has made a name for himself in the art world that is nearly as prominent as it is in the music world. His paintings have been shown at the Clementine Gallery in New York, the MCA in Houston, the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Modern Institute in Glasgow, and many others. He is a musician in the band The Sea and Cake and lives in Chicago.