Friday 11/10 – Thursday 11/16
“I’ve made up a myth in my life that anytime you push yourself through something uncomfortable, say a snowstorm and you don’t have boots on, then you will get the job, because you have been so doggedly good or so stupid or you just know when to push on,” says the protagonist of Eileen Myles’s debut novel, Cool for You, shortly after landing a job in a mental ward. Myles, who ran as an “openly female” presidential candidate in 1992 and published the hip short story collection Chelsea Girls in 1994, will read from her new book tonight at 7 at 57th Street Books, 1301 E. 57th. It’s free (773-684-1300).
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13 MONDAY The novelists invited to participate in the European Union-sponsored New European Literature reading and discussion had to be relatively young, speak English, and have at least one book published in the U.S. Austrian writer Marlene Streeruwitz (Seductions), Danish writer Ib Michael (Prince), and French writer Martin Winckler, who has sold “truckloads” of 1998’s The Case of Dr. Sachs (which was recently made into a film), all fit the bill. They’ll read from and discuss their work–in the original language and in English–tonight at 6 at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington. Tomorrow night at 6 German author Alissa Walser (The Lesser Half of the World), Italian au-thor Sandra Petrignani (The Toy Catalog), and Dutch writer Philibert Schogt (The Wild Numbers) will do the same. Local critic Andrew Patner will mod-erate both free events; call 312-664-3525 or see www.france-consulat.org/chicago/europe/literfestival.htm for more.
