Books
Body by Ladonna
Ladonna would miss Billy Mays’ black beard, puffy paunch, and his in-her-face sandpaper voice rasping from the television. In Ladonna’s heart his clean, pure flame would burn forever.
Aug 6th, 2009 by Stella Cretek
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
Why would you read a book about work, of all things, during the dog days of summer? Alain de Botton's latest collection of essays is surprisingly gracious, entertaining and lovely to look at. That's why.
Aug 4th, 2009 by Kat Murrell
800-CEO-READ
Mark Metcalf meets Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten, CEO and President, respectively, of 800-CEO-READ, a local company that sells business books and promotes great ideas. (We think THEY'RE a great idea!)
Jul 22nd, 2009 by Amy Elliott
Carol Grossmeyer
This week on the podcast, Mark talks to Carol Grossmeyer, former owner of Harry W. Schwartz bookshops and current owner of its sister company, 800-CEO-READ.
Jul 14th, 2009 by Amy Elliott
Dispatch from a Chuck Klosterman book reading
"So, Michael Jackson is dead." So Chuck Klosterman, journalist/essayist/pop culture commentator and author of Killing Yourself to Live -- in which the writer visited famous rock and roll death sites -- begins his Thursday night lecture at Boswell Books.
Jun 26th, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
Your 2009 Summer Reading Guide
It's the right time of year to reacquaint yourself with the literate world, so we put on our best nerdy glasses, went on the hunt and scouted out local experts in order to provide you with our first-ever summer reading guide, full of locally-sourced recommendations from Boswell Books, Open Book Co-op, Next Chapter Bookshop, A Broader Vocabulary and friends at WMSE, 800-ceo-read and ChangeThis.com.
Jun 21st, 2009 by Amy Elliott
A new collaborative
The space at 2241 South Kinnickinnic Avenue that once housed Broad Vocabulary, Milwaukee’s first and only feminist bookstore, sits barren. The signature cornflower blue exterior stands out among other shops and restaurants, but inside, all that remains are stark walls and empty shelves … for now. Around Milwaukee, in conference rooms and libraries, in bars and coffee shops, a resurrection is in the works. Enter A Broader Vocabulary Co-operative, a crew of … um, broads, bound and determined to get the shop back on its feet after former owners Tina Owen and Jennifer Morales were forced to close the struggling bookstore last fall. The café we’re at is nearly full, and the air feels electric. Every table is a hotbed of excited conversation, surrounded by people with notebooks and agendas. We settle in just as someone in the back cranks up the stereo so that Booker T. and the M.G.’s “Green Onions” can be heard over the bustle, giving momentum to the buzz around us. Once the announcement was made that Broad Vocabulary would close, friends and lovers of Broad immediately came together to try and save this vestige of the Bay View landscape. “We [couldn’t] just stand by and let this happen,” says Hannah Wallisch, a former volunteer and board member for the new co-op. Wallisch, along with other board members Annie Weidert, Stephanie Schneider, Patty Donndelinger, Janine Arseneau and Barbara Chudnow didn’t know each other from Adam (or in this case, Eve) when they decided to take on this formidable task. And so the wheels began to turn. In November 2008, after months of research and a stack of paperwork, A Broader Vocabulary Co-operative was formed. Wallisch says that the immense outpouring of support from the community and from other successful co-ops has been an inspiration. “It’s a good kick in the pants,” she says. “ You realize that anybody can do this…you just have to work hard and educate yourself.” The decision to go co-op seemed a likely progression, allowing the responsibilities of the shop to be shared among people who can pool their time and resources to meet the needs of running a small business. The ladies looked to other Milwaukee businesses that have flourished with a co-operative structure, like the Riverwest Co-op and People’s Books for guidance. By the time Broad Vocabulary closed its doors on November 30th, the co-op had few resources and even less money – at least not enough to re-open immediately. The plan was in motion, but not quite ready to take flight. They decided to hold a fundraiser on the store’s last business day to build momentum for the project, and to give a face to the co-op. “The Phoenix Rising fundraiser spread the awareness that something was in the works even though the store wouldn’t remain open,” says Stephanie Schneider, who also works as a teacher in Milwaukee. The fundraiser was a huge success, allowing ABVC to raise enough money to make an offer on the store’s inventory – […]
Mar 2nd, 2009 by Erin Petersen
Carrying A Knife In To The Gunfight
His real name is Edmund Makowski, but around town he’s known as poet Eddie Kilowatt. It suits him to a tee: his persona is electric indeed, and it shines through in his slender new book of poetry, Carrying A Knife In To The Gunfight.
Dec 1st, 2007 by Judith Ann Moriarty
Michael Chabon at the Jewish Community Center’s Book and Culture Fair
Michael Chabon, author of Wonder Boys, 2001 Pulitzer-winner Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, acclaimed novella The Final Solution and most recently Gentlemen on the Road (a serialized story written for New York Times Magazine in 2007), was arguably the biggest-name Jewish writer out of many to appear at the JCC’s Book and Culture Fair in Whitefish Bay this November (see milwaukeejewish.org for details on remaining dates). The 44-year-old California resident and frequent traveler drew a few hundred attendees, most likely attending to hear him read, as advertised, from his May-released potboiler The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, which has been hailed as his best to date – and perhaps most controversial. But instead the soft-spoken and blue-eyed man in a tweed jacket pulled a sheaf of papers from a folder and began to read loosely from a prepared speech. Instead, Chabon appeared to be seizing the chance to explain his tale to a mostly-Jewish audience. He defended a misunderstood essay he penned which appeared in the June 1997 issue of Civilization Magazine after Yiddish-speaking clubs and stalwarts took him to task and deftly (but not dismissively) handled audience questions about his “bad” characters in Yiddish Policeman’s Union, who appear to be Orthodox Jews. The evening remained genial and gracious throughout. Chabon didn’t stray much from his early critical image as “a nice Jewish boy, so eager to please” as he relays to the crowd. But he also admits that his work remains provocative because of the equally subversive “devil inside [himself]” that writes things you aren’t supposed to talk about. Yiddish Policeman’s Union imagines a Jewish province founded for refugees of World War II and eventually the 1948 Arab-Israeli Conflict. Just as various countries such as Uganda or Argentina were proposed by some early Zionists, then-Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes convinces Congress in this alternate universe to lend the panhandle of Alaskan Territories to the troubled population. Chabon’s town of Sitka, Alaska is a cold, noir location, like something out of Raymond Chandler story. A long-time fan of genre fiction like mysteries, sci-fi, and comic books, Chabon has consistently created deep, hard-hitting characters. But while his prose and craft was praised when the book was first released, it was also dogged for its imagined proposal and treatment of characters. Later Chabon stated that he wanted “to create a home in his imagination,” and that while he once shunned his background, he now seeks ways to explore and cherish it. Perhaps because of the setting, the evening’s talk was dominated with questions about Yiddish, Jewish statehood, and the culture in general. Any deep questions about character development, plot, and the writing process were relegated to short, superficial moments. It may be that the era of small talks with big authors on book tours has led to expectations of intimacy and thoroughness in discussion, but in this instance, just spending some time was fair enough. VS Michael Chabon’s Yiddish Policeman’s Union and Gentlemen of the Road are currently on sale at area booksellers […]
Nov 19th, 2007 by Brian Jacobson
Recalling the Wisconsin Idea
By Barry Wightman A century ago there was a political agenda known as the “Wisconsin Idea.” As Sanford D. Horwitt, author of Feingold: A New Democratic Party, puts it, the idea at the center of then-nascent progressive political thinking “became widely known as shorthand for new, enlightened rational government that would rein in laissez-faire capitalism, invest in vastly expanded educational opportunities and infrastructure, and use the expertise at the University of Wisconsin to create pioneering programs to promote the health, safety and economic interests of ordinary workers and farmers alike.” One would be hard-pressed to argue with that agenda. Famed Wisconsin Governor and Senator, Robert M. La Follette, one of Russ Feingold’s political heroes, personified the progressive Wisconsin Idea. And understanding La Follette is key to understanding our current senator. Having read La Follette’s autobiography as a high school student, Feingold was steeped in the progressive tradition. Simply put, true progressives believe in competence, community and thrift and are fervently against the power of big money and behind-the-scenes influence. With roots in the Northern European traditions of many of Wisconsin’s 19th century settlers, progressives cover a wide political spectrum that, in today’s terms, is neither red-state nor blue-state. And it is that pragmatic, party boundary-crossing approach that is central to Feingold’s politics. Progressivism as a coherent political movement is largely forgotten, its tenet planks scattered among the dusty platform statements of the two major parties of the 20th century. But Feingold is, by the historic definition, a progressive. Asked about the prospect for a progressive revival in 21st century America, Feingold was hopeful. Saying that his hero Bob La Follette would be “passionate” about today’s possibilities, Feingold is clearly working to speak for the independent, pragmatic and public-minded of Wisconsin. Those are not the words of cautious man. Feingold’s habit of confounding the leaders of the Democratic Party establishment would have been familiar to “Fighting Bob” La Follette. Feingold’s was the lone vote against the Patriot Act in 2001 and he was one of the few to vote against the authorization for war against Iraq in 2002. He was also the only Democrat to vote to continue the Senate Clinton impeachment proceedings in 1998 – a very unpopular position, at least among Democrats. And with Republican maverick John McCain, he has consistently championed campaign finance reform, attempting to drive corrupting big money from the national political process. Feingold, Horwitt writes, can be counted on to vote for reform, not to play it safe. As a result, Feingold frequently tangles with his more cautious contemporaries. His 2002 public dust-up with Senator Hillary Clinton on campaign finance – she claimed he wasn’t living in the “real world” – rocked the party boat, as did the recent failed Feingold-Reid Senate bill to end the Iraq war. Many Democrats veered away from him. But Feingold remains undeterred, going about the business of serving his state and nation unbowed by what some might perceive to be political failures. In speaking about the war at one […]
Nov 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
2007 Short Fiction and Poetry Contest
Intro by Jon Anne Willow It’s possible that only a writer can understand the difficulty of being one. It is not a skill or avocation, but the most primal of callings, an obsession at least as deep-rooted as any felt for love or high ambition. Writing is a cruel muse, leaving you when you need her most, clawing at your back when your thoughts should be turned to other things. Follow her and you may, through a tortuous process, eventually taste the manna of creating something that isn’t truly awful; turn your back and you will surely be left in peace to wade eternally in the tide pool of regret that you did not listen when you had the chance. Just the act of writing consistently takes courage; to actually put your words out there for others, even more: any “writer” who does not know this is either a rank amateur or an imposter. With this belief, VITAL would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who submitted their work to our first Short Fiction and Poetry Contest. Their work was judged blind by talented working professionals who all used the same criteria to score each piece up to 100 total points in different categories. Both first and second place winners in each category are printed here; first place winners will also receive a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble, whose Mayfair store helped to sponsor this competition. Enjoy. —Jon Anne Willow FICTION WINNER “Confitero” By Anne M. Rice Like savoring a last cigarette before the executioner’s blindfold, I hold the gold cufflink between my fingers, tracing the engraved initials repeatedly with my thumb. The arc of my fingernail revisits the path of the engraver’s pen in lines and curves. Whether I do this to scratch the initials out of existence or because I feel them branding my being, I do not know. I stand motionless – except for this tiny, recurring gesture – in the middle of the bedroom, staring out the leaded glass windows, for what might be hours. Again, I do not know. Time seems almost intractable. Below, the light is reflected on the wet pavement where milky shafts glare up at me. He was in a desperate hurry to leave this evening, choosing to wear the lapis pair – barely securing his French cuffs, grabbing his suit jacket, knocking this offending monogrammed piece onto the Oriental rug near my toe as he flew past, the scent of Kiel’s almond lotion lingering behind him. “Don’t wait up,” he offered, not unkindly, but unnecessarily. I know better than to do that. These evenings have become a part of our routine, even if they are a charade. And I am very clear about how to carry out my role. Early on in this arrangement, I would boast of a busy schedule and a vibrant, separate social life that also kept me out on evenings such as these. And occasionally, I indeed had penciled things in on nights like […]
Aug 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
Hot summer in the city
Lesley Kagen is looking out the front window of Restaurant Hama, the fine Japanese establishment her and husband Peter Knapp have operated out of the Audubon Court in Bayside for almost 10 years. But this is not a feature about the fine tempura and fried calamari we will feast on in a few minutes. “Piaskowski,” Kagen interjects with another local family name. Her voice is comforting and level as she continues to identify familiar Brew City names and places. It’s a voice perfect for radio commercials – which Kagen did on the west coast for over a decade. But this is not a feature about past successes in television and voiceover work. “I mean, this is definitely a Milwaukee book,” Kagen continues, and then wrinkles her brow within the context. The Vliet Street characters in her debut novel Whistling in the Dark, published by North American Library (Penguin Books), have remarkable depth. The languid summer of 1959 passes by typically with Popsicles, movies and neighborhood games. But this is not a book about how whimsical, simple and tranquil those times were. “A lot of people like to remember the ‘50s, and say ‘oh wow the ‘50s, it was so innocent.’ But in some ways it wasn’t, especially for girls,” Kagen says. “Girls were treated very differently back then. You were a 2nd-class citizen. Boys were important and girls weren’t. And that led to some situations that were not nice and not healthy.” The main heroine of Whistling is 10-year-old Sally O’Malley, a fiercely loyal and smart girl who becomes an unwilling shamus during one summer dotted with personal tragedy and frustration. After promising her dad before he died to always look after her younger sister, Troo, Sally’s world is thrown asunder when her mother is hospitalized, her stepfather turns to the bottle and a murderer/molester appears on the scene. Highly imaginative, Sally is pretty sure of two things: who the killer is and that she’s next on his list. Now she has no choice but to protect herself and Troo as best she can, relying on her own courage and the kindness of her neighbors. For all the dark corners and mysteries in Kagen’s seeming thriller, however, she was stunned during the many accolades the novel received when the Mystery Guild named it an alternate for book-of-the-month. “I thought why? I would say that it’s a literary novel with an element of mystery as opposed to a true genre mystery. I don’t think it has that feel to it at all,” says Kagen. “I don’t think that Sally is thinking about solving the crime. She’s more concerned with getting the information for keeping her and her sister safe. That’s a real different goal.” Another neat trick that binds the book is the committed narrative voice, which is written in the first person from Sally’s perspective and vernacular ability. “I wanted people to remember that children are different than adults,” she says. “They see things differently. The strange ways that words […]
Jun 1st, 2007 by Brian Jacobson
