Literary To-Dos: Hulk Hogan, Stephen Elliott, Matt Groening
By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 29, 2009 3:20PM
Stephen Elliott reads from "The Adderall Diaries" at Quimby's this Sunday (Photo by Katherine Emery)
What you gonna do when Hulk Hogan signs a copy of his new book, "My Life Outside the Ring," for you? Well, when confronted with this giant who has been humbled by personal tragedy since leaving pro wrestling, actually, you might become quite sad.
Borders, 830 N. Michigan, 7:00 p.m., FREE but you'll have to show up early to get a wristband
Sunday, November 1 - Stephen Elliott
"The Adderall Diaries," a memoir couched in a true crime story, begins with Elliott in the midst of stagnancy and depression, dealing with an extended bout of writer's block and an Adderall dependency. He latches on to the trial of Hans Reiser, a computer programmer accused of killing his wife, Nina, as well as the added twist of a confession to eight unrelated murders by Sean Sturgeon, Reiser's friend, Nina's lover, and Elliott's acquaintance. Elliott sets out to write a book about these unusual characters, hoping that delving into the mysteries will get his writing going once again.
The resulting book, however, becomes a reexamination of Elliott's own life. Elliott finds parallels between the tragic trio and his childhood in Chicago that was spent variously in the custody of his abusive father, in group homes, and on the streets. Some connections are overt - like Sturgeon, Elliott's father confessed to a nonexistent murder - and some are more subtle or even projected (he sees all relationships involving a quasi-abusive power dynamic, including his S/M-filled sex life). Underlying it all is the uncertainty of what is true, which Elliott tries to sift through to form an understanding of his life and his relationship with his father. The narration is jumpy - typical of amphetamine-fueled thought - but it works as a sort of pointillism, and Elliott keeps you engaged with his touching honesty and vulnerability.
Elliott will appear, along with Chicago-based author Joe Meno, at Quimby's, 1854 W. North, 3:00 p.m., FREE
Thursday, November 5 - Lynda Barry and Matt Groening
Lynda Barry and Matt Groening will give a talk at the University of Illinois at Chicago next Thursday as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. Barry has written a number of novels but is best known for her three-decade-old weekly comic strip "Ernie Pook's Comeek" (she moved to the Midwest in 1979 when the Chicago Reader picked it up). While at Evergreen State College, she befriended Matt Groening, the author of a comic strip of his own, "Life Is Hell," although he is probably better known for an animated television show he created called "Futurama." Prior to that, he did some work on another show called "The Simpsons," which you can still see in both syndication and on Sunday nights on Fox. Barry and Groening, along with Jules Feiffer and Chris Ware, will also appear on Saturday, November 7, in a panel discussion of the current plight of alternative comics, which are suffering due to the slow, writhing death of the print news media.
UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt, 7:00 P.M., $15, FREE for students and educators