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Jonathan Goldstein: Love Lost & Love Found
October 28 2003, 7:30 PM
Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
This American Life contributor Jonathan Goldstein makes a special Nextbook Chicagoland appearance with readings and performances from his original works. For many, Goldstein is the wry, self-effacing voice at the other end of the radio. As a contributing editor for This American Life, Goldstein has offered up tales on everything from what it would be like to date Lois Lane (think it's easy trying to measure up to Superman?) to sharing real life snippets about daily adventures with his girlfriend's young daughter. Author of Lenny Bruce is Dead and co-author of Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley's Jewish Roots, Goldstein will read from original works on love lost and love found, with musical interludes by violinist Alex Koffman.
Writers Block Party: The Algonquinstein Roundtable
November 18 2003, 7:30 PM
Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Amy Krouse Rosenthal admits that, at age 9, she wrote to PBS to explain why she should have her own show — now she does, except that it is on radio not TV. With The Writers Block Party, Rosenthal brings together writers, musicians, and humorists to muse on a wide variety of subjects. For this special Nextbook evening, she enlists Chicago writers Gwen Macsai, Hugh Musick, Susan Mclaughlin Karp, and Mark Bazer to rhapsodize about angst, love, intermarriage, and the keeping of secrets. With music by Tony Rogers and Dave Specter.
Peter Manseau, Jeff Sharlet & Peter Trachtenberg: A Heretic's Bible
January 27 2004, 7:30 PM
Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Who says the Bible wasn't just a rough draft? Jeff Sharlet and Peter Manseau, editors of the online magazine, KillingTheBuddha.com, left the serenity of their backwoods bungalows to find out where Americans find God. (Among their discoveries: some find God in dirt; others on their tummies.) At the same time, Sharlet and Manseau, both alums of the National Center for the Yiddish Book, asked authors such as Francine Prose and Melvin Jules Bukiet to write their own versions of books of the Bible. The result is Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible, an exploration of faith in America by writers who admit to being "embarrassed to be caught in the 'spirituality' section of a bookstore." Sharlet and Manseau share their "psalms" and are joined by the eternally put-upon Peter Trachtenberg, reading from his interpretation of Job. With musical interludes.
Etgar Keret: In Conversation with Ira Glass
April 13 2004, 7:30 PM
The Abbey Pub
3420 W. Grace Street, Chicago
Etgar Keret, one of Israel's most popular new authors, joins This American Life host Ira Glass to talk about his work. Conveying a sensibility somewhere between Raymond Carver and Dave Eggers, Keret gives voice to the frustration and absurdity felt by young Israelis. In his recent collection of short stories, The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God (an English-language debut culled four previous Hebrew-language collections), a bus driver is obsessed with keeping his schedule, a stewardess falls in love with a passenger, and a woman runs a convenience store at the gates of hell. Realistic, yet absurd; foreign, yet abounding in allusions to American pop culture; tragic, yet whimsical—Keret's stories are a fascinating window into contemporary Israeli culture. Etgar Keret lives in Tel Aviv and is also a noted filmmaker, TV script writer, comic strip writer, and journalist.
An Evening of New Jewish Poets
with Arielle Greenberg, Rachel Zucker and Jessica Greenbaum
May 6 2004, 7:00 PM
Beat Kitchen
2100 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Three leading young female poets come together for an evening of readings and conversations about art, creativity and Judaism. Whether it's love, motherhood, the Holocaust or dissecting the role of poetry itself, each poet reflects her personal world—while never forgetting our collective past. Featuring award-winning poets Arielle Greenberg (Given), Rachel Zucker (Eating in the Underworld), and Jessica Greenbaum (Inventing Difficultly). Hosted by Eric Selinger, co-editor of Jewish American Poetry: Poems, Commentary and Reflections.
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