The People’s Pugilist Carl Sandburg & Matthias Regan 2009 282p 5 x 8 Carl Sandburg is widely known as the ‘great’ poet from Illinois, and especially remembered for his monumental three-volume biographical study of Abraham Lincoln. He was also a journalist, author of children’s stories, and pathbreaking songwriter. This … Continue reading Carl Sandburg
Chicago’s Wild 20s! Franklin Rosemont & Paul Durica 2004 186p 5 x 8 What do Lucy Parsons, Clarence Darrow, Carl Sandburg, Mary MacLane, Lawrence Lipton, Elizabeth Davis (Queen of the Hoboes), Jun Fujita, Sherwood Anderson, Ralph Chaplin, Katherine Dunham, Djuna Barnes, Kenneth Rexroth, Sam Dolgoff, and Slim Brundage have … Continue reading The Rise and Fall of the Dil Pickle Club
Tracts & Other Collective Declarations of the Surrealist Movement in the U.S., 1966-1976 Penelope Rosemont, Paul Garon & Franklin Rosemont 1997 276p 5 x 8 In 1966, the first indigenous Surrealist Group in the US was organized in Chicago. From there, it spread. This book is a compendium of … Continue reading The Forecast is Hot!
Emma Goldman, Lucy Parsons, Ben Reitman & Other Agitators & Outsiders In 1920s-30s Chicago Frank O. Beck 1956 128p 5 x 8 From the 1910s through the Depression 30s, when Chicago was the undisputed hobo capital of the United States, a small north side neighborhood known as Towertown was … Continue reading Hobohemia
Selected Ravings Of Slim Brundage – Founder & Janitor Of The College Of Complexes Slim Brundage & Franklin Rosemont 2003 140p 5 x 8 A unique combination of tavern, university and nonstop wild party, the College of Complexes (1951-1961) was for many years the city’s outstanding outsider outpost — a … Continue reading From Bughouse Square to the Beat Generation
Leonora Carrington 1944 53p 4.5 x 8 Best known for her dazzling paintings and tales of black humor, Carrington is one of contemporary surrealism’s outstanding spokespersons. Born and raised in England, she joined the international surrealist movement in 1937. Down Below recounts her adventures in Spain ‘on the other … Continue reading Down Below
Documents From Chicago’s Clandestine Abortion Service, 1968-1973 Firestarter Press ed. 2004 60p 5 x 8 Jane was the abortion counseling service affiliated with the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union (CWLU). Before abortion was legalized in 1973, Jane members, none of whom were physicians, performed over 11,000 illegal abortions. Their philosophy … Continue reading Jane
The Life and World of Ben Reitman, Chicago’s Celebrated Social Reformer, Hobo King and Whorehouse Physician Roger A. Burns 2001 368p 6 x 9 Biography of “the hobo doctor” who road the rails and treated the elements of the working class many other physicians refused to, including performing abortions which were illegal … Continue reading The Damndest Radical
Or, Songs for Lucy Parsons The May Day Orchestra Vinyl 2009 “The ‘Folk Opera’ concerning the labor question” according to its liner notes, this is the debut release from The May Day Orchestra, a group started by Tim Rakel in 2008 to write historically-rooted albums with various musical accompaniment. Words for the songs … Continue reading May Day
A Record of Childhood and Youth Richard Wright 1945 448p 5 x 8 Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a ‘drunkard,’ hanging about in taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was … Continue reading Black Boy