Fifty years after its initial publication in 1970, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye continues to haunt readers with its powerful explorations of racial identity, self-esteem, Black girlhood and trauma. Pecola Breedlove, an 11-year-old dark-skinned girl made to feel ugly all her life, prays for her eyes to turn blue, to become "beautiful." Toni Morrison's writing…
Top Picks: Brutally Honest Essays by Chicago’s Samantha Irby
OK, so Samantha Irby fled Chicago a while ago and now proudly resides in Michigan. For years, however, Chicago comedy and lit lovers in the know heard her at various readings around the city (Guts & Glory, The Paper Machete). Her blog, Bitches Gotta Eat, endeared her to the internet forever and brought her humor…
Gen X: Defining Moments in Pop Culture
Generation X, the forgotten middle child of American generations, is getting old. Born between 1965 and 1980, we are now middle-aged and the subject of New York Times thinkpieces. We used to be at the forefront of cool but were kind of forgotten between the heyday of the Baby Boomers and a surge of Millennials…
Top Picks: Music Biopics
In the new hit film Bohemian Rhapsody, legendary rock star Freddie Mercury and the band Queen see a meteoric rise to international fame in the mid-1970s and face personal and professional strife through the 1980s. Like most musical biopics, there's a little truth, a little fiction and a whole lot of great music for die-hard…
Frankenstein’s Legacy: 5 Books and Movies
The name "Frankenstein" conjures up images of a green, grunting monster stomping about with bolts in its neck. The monster was most notably portrayed by Boris Karloff in the Universal Classic Monster films of the 1930s. Frankenstein is, of course, Victor Frankenstein, created by 18-year-old Mary Shelley in her 1818 novel, Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus…
#TBT: Happy Birthday, Mel Brooks!
Today, writer, director, comedian and all-around entertainment legend Mel Brooks turns 92 (impressive, but not as much as a 2000 Year Old Man). As a child in Brooklyn, he fell in love with the movies and live theater. He grew up to be one of only 12 people to earn an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar…
Caught Reading: CPL Book Club Edition
When I started working at West Belmont Branch on Chicago's Northwest side a year ago, I was pleased to find a well-established book club full of passionate readers. The West Belmont book club members gather to catch up and, of course, drink coffee and eat delicious carbs of the cake or cookie variety. But our…
Quiz: How Well Do You Know Stephen King?
It's a good year for Stephen King fans. Carrie, the first Stephen King film adaptation, came out over 40 years ago, and Hollywood keeps turning back to his prolific catalog for inspiration. King adaptations are so hot right now with The Dark Tower hitting the big screen this week and the much-hyped It remake coming out in early September. Sure…
#TBT: Twin Peaks and Other Hits of 1990
The long-awaited continuation of the iconic television series Twin Peaks is set to debut on Showtime this month. When it first premiered in 1990, David Lynch's lush, atmospheric drama had everyone wondering, "Who killed Laura Palmer?" The series was short-lived, producing only two seasons and the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, but it influenced a whole…
#TBT: Chuck Berry Turns 90
Happy birthday to one of the undisputed kings of rock 'n' roll, Chuck Berry! This icon turns 90 October 18. For this Throwback Thursday, let's take a brief look back at Berry's legendary career. Chicago's own Chess Records put out Berry's earliest records, which were notable for merging white country music with black rhythm and blues. 1950s hits like "Maybellene" and…
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