Literary Chicago - Maxine Hong Kingston 'China Men'

Literary Chicago is series where I try to capture the essence of the city by how it is described in fiction, primarily from books that don't take place in Chicago.  

"Ed's legs ached. At about eleven o'clock, he spoke the bitter verses of "The Laundry Song" by Wen I-to of Chicago:

          A piece, two pieces, three pieces - 
         Wash them clean, 
         Four pieces, fives pieces, six - 
         Iron them smooth, "

pg 63. China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston (1977)

Simultweet: "Daft Punk"

Tweets happen so constantly, that coincidences are natural to occur. When they happen a tweet or two away in my timeline, I can't help but wonder about the collective Twitter-subconscious. 

These two tweets about Daft Punk happened one tweet away in my timeline, and  2,595,145,769 tweets away overall. 

Human After All: A poem about Daft Punk written by Justin R. at an @openbooks field trip. http://t.co/HsUdAtU307
— Open Books (@OpenBooks) April 21, 2014

Daft Punk is playing at Waffle House
— Michael Robbins (@alienvsrobbins) April 21, 2014

Teju Cole and Aleksandar Hemon: Bicultural Writers

A couple weeks ago, Teju Cole and Aleksandar Hemon had a conversation posted on Bomb Magazine's website. Cole is possibly my favorite contemporary author, after I was blown away by Open City two years ago. His twitter account is real-time literary insight. The Lazarus Project by Hemon was my only real knowledge of the author until I read last year's memoir, The Book of My Lives, which compiles autobiographical essays written over the past decade.

In the conversation, the two talk about the distinctions between fiction and non-fiction, photography, wandering, urban culture, and more. The two are very illuminating and seem to have a natural sense of humanity they reflect off each other. Says Hemon:

"If we ever find ourselves writing only for the present—which would essentially mean that tweeting is all we can do—I would feel absolutely defeated as a human being and a writer."

And Cole on cities:

"But the other side is that they are simply so congested with material history and the spiritual traces of those histories, including some very dark events. Your contemporary Chicago is haunted by the Chicago of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Chicago of innovation and of systematic exclusions." 

The whole interview is fascinating and more than worth your time. I will never be able to recommend Open City enough (until I read Everyday is for the Thief at least). For the Chicagoans out there, Hemon's The Book of My Lives is a great read as well. It encompasses stories from his childhood in Bosnia, to his immigration to Chicago. His early days in Ukrainian Village and Edgewater are a particular fun read (while still thought-provoking), and the final chapter about his daughter's illness is sobering.

Cole was born in Nigeria but calls NYC home now. Hemon refers to him as one of the foremost "bicultural writers" (for lack of better term). Whatever the term may be, Hemon is up there as well; I'm glad he's decided to call Chicago his adopted home, expanding the literary scope of our city with a unique perspective.

Ear Relevant: 04.05.14 - 04.11.14

Here's what's good for your ears this week. New singles, albums, tributes, and music videos ahead!

Ed Schrader (hey, that dude's album is in the banner to this website!) in his continuous quest to take over the world with his floor-tom-of-destruction released the second single off forthcoming Party Jail. Listen on his soundcloud.

Guitar superpower Ryley Walker has his new album streaming on Self Titled Mag and you can read his brief descriptions about all the songs. Yes, most of them are about drugs.

KSRA (aka Rachel Thomas) looped and wailed her way through a Chicago Singles Club showcase on Monday at the Empty Bottle and I picked up a copy of her album Petra. It's gooooood (listen here).

By now, most people know that Aimee Mann and Ted Leo have teamed up to form the Both. Besides making great music, the duo makes funny music videos (those things still exist?!). Watch below.

John Yingling premiered a new song by Beijing noise-pop trio Hedgehog called "DDDDDDreaMMMMMM"on Impose. Listen here.

And the music world lost another of its finest. Leee Childers, most well known for documenting the CBGB's scene passed away earlier this week. Watch this video from last year where he recounts interactions with David Bowie, Lou Reed, Sid Vicious and more:

Literary Chicago - Bonnie Jo Campbell, "Women and Other Animals"

Literary Chicago is series where I try to capture the essence of the city by how it is described in fiction, primarily from books that don't take place in Chicago.  

via Calumet 412

"Hal always said Chicago didn't have anything that mattered. The Sears Tower is there, Bess had said, and Hal said the Sears Tower was just another tall building."

pg. 44 "Women and Other Animals" short story collection by Bonnie Jo Campbell. (1999)

Simultweet: "Bathrobes"

Tweets happen so constantly, that coincidences are natural to occur. When they happen a tweet or two away in my timeline, I can't help but wonder about the collective Twitter-subconscious. 

These two tweets about bathrobes happened five tweets away in my timeline, and  3,244,122,563 tweets away overall.

I'm reading at 8 @FranklinParkBK w/@KieseLaymon @jamiattenberg @dfoyble @00AMWC00 @sasha_fletcher. I'm still in my bathrobe! See you there!
— Jami Attenberg (@jamiattenberg) April 7, 2014

If I'm sipping on herbal tea and wearing a bath robe that means don't fuck w me
— Gabe Liebowitz (@GabeLiebowitz) April 7, 2014

Ear Relevant: 03.31.14 - 04.04.14

Here's what's good for your ears this week. Music festivals, singles, albums, tributes, and music videos ahead!

Hozac Records announced the first details for Blackout Fest, May 15-17 at the Empty Bottle. Already announced are the Boys (yes, these Boys), the Dictators (yes, these Dictators), Shocked Minds, A Giant Dog, Rainbow Gun Show, First Base, 999999999, the Man, Counter Intuits, Nones, and Toupee.

Netherfriends released a new single featuring Black Matt called 'Seasons.' It's off the forthcoming Netherfriends Goes West album, featuring songs that sample Kanye West. Check it out on soundcloud here.

My friend John Serafin hosts a radio show on CHIRP Sunday nights / Monday mornings, midnight til 3 am. Here's the full three hours on mixcloud. This week features Warpaint, Herbert, Warm Soda, Martin L Gore, Will Phalen, the New Pornographers, Onra, She Speaks in Tongues, Archers of Loaf, and a billion others.

Massive Ego became just Ego last night with their record release show at the Owl. Besides making great album art, they make great music; check it out on their bandcamp.

Tacocat released an awesome video for their anti-streetcall song, 'Hey Girl.'

Sadly, Frankie Knuckles, "Godfather of House Music," passed away this week from issues related to diabetes. I've never listened to much of his music myself and never saw him spin, but have much respect for what he did. Nicky Siano, friend for forty years, wrote a fitting tribute to him. Here's his remix of 'Blind' by Hercules and the Love Affair which never fails to make a party playlist of mine.