I, somehow, didn’t know anything about the Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair. I don’t know how that happened, because the World’s Fair was a turning point in American culture–and it sounds like it was awesome. The 1893 World’s Fair introduced us to Ferris Wheels, AC current, the Pledge of Allegiance, Shredded Wheat, Pabst Blue Ribbon, zippers, Juicy Fruit, the word “Midway,” Columbus Day, and that snake charmer song that is still a national earworm. It hosted Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and, […]
Harry the Wizard is back, with a bad migraine and Winter in his soul
Dresden is not only back from the dead—having spent an entire novel as a ghost!—but he is back with more guilty angst over endangering his friends and loved ones than ever before. The Winter faerie queen Mab still has her claws in Harry, and forces him to work with his worst enemy Nicodemus to pay off her debt to the scary dude. The job entails ripping off a certain Greek god of the underworld, no small task even for Harry. And, of course, that means […]
Rogue Sociologist Indeed
When Sudhir Venkatesh entered Chicago’s poorer neighborhoods as a graduate sociology student with a survey in hand, he inadvertently formed a relationship with JT, a gang member of the Black Kings instead. This allowed Venkatesh to tag along with the gang on their daily activities and to learn directly about life in the Robert Taylor Homes (these projects were later torn down in the late 1990s). Six years studying the Black Kings and the residents of Robert Taylor became the basis of Venkatesh’s research as […]
Wizard Harry Dresden in fine form in Death Masks
Harry Dresden is a highly respected (if impoverished) wizard among the supernatural scene, and when a Vatican priest calls on him to help find the stolen Shroud of Turin, he is thrilled to take the job and the fee that goes with it. He is less thrilled to learn that horribly mutilated bodies and hit men are turning up in the investigation, and that Chicago crime-boss Marcone seems to be in the thick of it. At the same time, a top noble of the Red […]