“If life was a thing that money could buy, the rich would live and the poor would die.” So reads the proverb on the back of John H. Sibley, Jr.’s novel “Bodyslick,” set in a dystopian futuristic Chicago where the main character makes a good living selling organs on the black market. Malcolm “Bodyslick” Steel grew up in a public housing project, his father killed in the Iraq War and his mother addicted to crack. In 2031, he lives in a Hyde Park condo with a lake view; procuring healthy organs for the rich, sick, and desperate has provided him with a steady flow of cash and adventure. Read the rest of this entry »

Forty years ago, Chicago played host to the Democratic National Convention. It was to be a tumultuous affair. In a situation with loose parallels to this year’s presidential campaign, the Democratic nomination was a toss-up between the youth favorite, anti-war candidate Senator Eugene McCarthy, and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who would eventually secure the nod despite largely eschewing the primaries, relying instead on the support of party bigwigs for delegate votes. The year was 1968. The Democratic Party was split in its loyalties and beliefs. The country found itself mired in the horrors of the Vietnam War. Students were upset, and they protested the Convention. It was rather chaotic: city officials sent the police out in force, students got arrested, party members were disgruntled. It’s all widely chronicled; it was a notable time in our nation’s history. Read the rest of this entry »