Poem: The Tribune writes the Bible
The Tribune writes the Bible By Patrick T. Reardon . We are not afraid of height. During slack summer, we will write a better Bible. . This will be a [...]
Book review: “The Praying Mantises” by Hubert Monteilhet, translated by Richard Howard
At some point, near the end of Hubert Monteilhet’s The Praying Mantises, one character says to another: “You’re the worst of the three of us.” That’s saying a lot. By [...]
Essay: Rick Kogan and Chicago — Perfectly Matched
In late 1999, Rick Kogan and I were walking north on Astor Street through the Gold Coast, and, if memory serves, Rick was telling me about long ago summers when, [...]
Book review: “Daybreak 2250 AD (Star Man’s Son)” by Andre Norton
I’m not sure how old I was when I first read Andre Norton’s 1952 novel Daybreak 2250 AD. In an essay about the book that I wrote for the Chicago [...]
Poem: “Adman walked south”
Adman walked south By Patrick T. Reardon . Adman walked south on Leviathan Boulevard toward glitter Loop announcing: I will anthem sing tomorrow, prophet talk. I will speak in [...]
Book review: “South Flight” by Jasmine Elizabeth Smith
African American lovers Beatrice Verdene Chapel and Jim Waters are the central characters in Jasmine Elizabeth Smith’s anguished, violent, blues-infused poetry collection South Flight, published by the University of Georgia [...]
Book review: “Killshot” by Elmore Leonard
Armand Degas — a middle-aged Ojibway-French Canadian, also known as Blackbird, also known to his increasing irritation as Bird — waits for another chicken pot pie to bake while Donna [...]
Book review: “Murder in the Navy” by Richard Marsten
In the 1955 novel Murder in the Navy, the killer is an evil presence operating in the shadows. But he’s not hidden from the reader, even though his name isn’t [...]
Book review: “The Screaming Mimi” by Fredric Brown
I knew ahead of time the solution to the puzzle that Fredric Brown’s on-the-wagon Chicago reporter Bill Sweeney was trying to solve in The Screaming Mimi, and I still found [...]
Book review: “The Pelican Brief” by John Grisham
As I was finishing John Grisham’s 1992 gripping legal thriller The Pelican Brief, I found myself warmly enjoying its reminder of how wonderful newspapering used to be. The novel starts [...]