November 21, 2012
Nick Harkaway is used to answering questions about his dad John le Carré. “I keep trying to explain that I don’t mind,” the young British novelist wrote in a candid essay for The Telegraph. “It’s just part of the landscape to me, like my own nose.” But even if he is willing to talk about his […]
May 24, 2012
When John Huston was eight years old he wanted to be Indiana Jones, and minus the snakes and booby traps, he’s living that boyhood dream. In 2009 – after years as an Outward Bound wilderness instructor and major expeditions to Greenland and Antarctica – the Evanston adventurer reached the pinnacle of polar exploration with a […]
April 22, 2012
The message was seemingly clear. If we would only swap Mr. Clean for Seventh Generation, switch from old light bulbs to compact fluorescents, and start schlepping our organic groceries in reusable bags, we could reverse the damage we’ve caused the Earth and heal our ailing planet. But according to sustainability expert Kendra Pierre-Louis, our commitment […]
February 16, 2012
Kevin Wilson has the book world buzzing for a reason. A pair of them, actually. Back in 2009, the Tennessee native hit the lit scene with Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, an artful, mischievous short-story collection that nabbed him a 2010 Alex Award. Now Wilson is back with his first novel The Family […]
December 7, 2011
(En español) A creative book project in elementary school was the impetus to the thriving, successful career of Romance novelist Caridad Piñeiro. Writing her first romance novel in the fifth grade about stranded high school students on a tropical island finding solace in each other, she is now the author of over 20 published books. […]
November 26, 2011
Cameron McWhirter is a Winnetka native and a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal. In 2007, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in Journalism at Harvard University where he began work on his first book Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Published in July, this well-researched history chronicles […]
November 9, 2011
For over 30 years, famed newspaper columnist Mike Royko visited fans five days a week on page 2 of the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune. Syndicated in over 600 newspapers nationwide, the Pulitzer Prize-winner wrote with eloquence and street-smart wit on wide-ranging topics including civil rights, Chicago’s political machine, the Cubs, and sensitive, “quiche-eating” men. […]
July 31, 2011
Nina Sankovitch has always been a book lover, and now she’s an author as well. In June the former Evanstonian celebrated the publication of her debut book Tolstoy and the Purple Chair – an inspiring memoir that recounts her year spent reading one book a day in order to heal from her older sister’s tragic death. Moving and insightful, […]
July 19, 2011
Gary Shteyngart isn’t considered one of America’s best young novelists for nothing. Born in Leningrad in 1972, the long-time New Yorker’s picaresque debut The Russian Debutante’s Handbook won the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award in 2002, and his riotous follow-up Absurdistan was named one of the best books of 2006 by the NY Times, the Chicago Tribune, […]
June 29, 2011
(Spanish version) Among countless literary awards and fellowships, best-selling author Luis J. Rodriguez received an “Unsung Heroes of Compassion” Award, presented by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His first non-fiction book ALWAYS RUNNING, a first-hand account of gangbanging in East L.A., is used in classrooms throughout California, despite the fact that the American Library Association […]
