Books

Chicago Alderman Edward Burke’s career as an author had an unlikely beginning. “I was sitting at a table with a writer and professor named Craig Sautter,” recalls Burke. “We were talking about all the great political conventions that had taken place in Chicago. But all anybody ever seemed to talk about was the fear in […]

Hope from the Heartland, a new book by Jay Hoffman, the Democratic state representative from Collinsville, starts with the premise that climate change, the energy and economic crises can be solved simultaneously. “We can retool our industrial base using new technology, take advantage of our abundant natural resources, and create new jobs while replacing our […]

Paul Simon kindles memories of Frank Capra’s classic 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The fictional drama features Jefferson Smith, a wholesome idealist played by James Stewart. Maintaining uncommon integrity while occupying a seat in the United States Senate, Smith emerges as a lonely voice against the corruption and unbridled cynicism often rampant in […]

Poor Abraham Lincoln. Even in his 200th birthday year, the guy is still being sliced and diced, his every action scrutinized in an estimated 100 new books that have hit the shelves since the Lincoln Bicentennial festivities kicked off two years ago. Case in point is David Work’s just published military history of Lincoln’s Civil […]

Close your eyes and think of Illinois. Take your time. Free associate. I’m not a mind reader but I guess you see fields of corn and red barns against blue skies. Now think architecture. Of course, Frank Lloyd Wright. History — who else but honest Abe? Politics — no not our ex-governor. I’ll give you […]

Joseph Flynn, a Springfield writer, is the author of a number of well reviewed novels. In this, his latest thriller, the plot is familiar — the bad guys go after their target by going after the person our hero cares about most. In this case that person also happens to be the first U.S. woman […]

In his most recent book, Communities of Frank Lloyd Wright: Taliesin and Beyond, historian Myron Marty strives to define the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin Fellowship in the context of other groups Wright worked with and other “intentional communities.” Together with his earlier book, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship (Truman State University Press, 1999), co-authored with […]

Midway through Beautiful Piece, an entertaining and gritty novel written in the noir style of mysteries, I began to have an eerie feeling. Imagine, if you will, the look on the face of Bill Murray each morning at 6 a.m. when he awakens to the sound of Cher belting out the lyrics to “I got […]

The 19th century witnessed America’s transformation from a rural, agrarian economy and culture into a restless, 20th century industrial giant and imperial power. Large 19th and early 20th century firms were publicly identified with the men who founded them or guided their early growth — Ford and his auto, Edison and his light bulb, Carnegie […]

Q: What is there to love about Sufficiency of the Actual, Kevin Stein’s new book of poetry?A: Everything you’ve loved about Stein’s other work: delightful wordplay, humor (light and dark), cultural icons from classical to popular, universal themes (light and heavy)and dagger-strike vivid images. If you haven’t yet read Kevin Stein, there is no better […]