Ben's famous senility checks (on himself)

Plus: the movie that makes you wish you were watching some other movie. [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( Daily Reader | May 21, 2024 There I was . . . flaked out on the couch and reading the Sunday paper—when I read about a novel, just out in paperback, that sounded so good I had to get it. [A Line in the Sand]( by Kevin Powers. The reviewer described the book as a page-turner, centering on a murder investigation that may or may not have something to do with atrocities committed during the war in Iraq. There and then I hopped off the couch and headed to the local library, where, on the shelf, I found Powers' novel . . . as if it had been waiting there just for me. With that, I checked it out, walked back home, returned to my beloved couch, kicked open the book, and read the first few pages . . . only to discover . . . I had already read it! And not that long ago. How had I not remembered this when I read the review? That night I had trouble sleeping. I was tossing and turning; wondering if forgetting that I read the book is the first sign of advancing senility. To test my faculties, I gave myself one of my famous senility checks (in this case, trivia questions about local politics). I ordered myself to name, in reverse chronological order, [Chicago’s mayors]( during my lifetime. Let’s see . . . Johnson, Lightfoot, Emanuel, Baby Daley, Sawyer, Orr, Washington, Byrne, Bilandic, Daddy Daley OK, that was easy. So I made it harder and commanded myself to name [congressmen from the first district]( in reverse chronological order, during my lifetime . . . Jackson, Rush, Hayes, Washington, Stewart, Metcalfe, Dawson I was running through aldermen from the 47th ward—Martin, Pawar, Schulter—when things went dark. I must have fallen asleep. The next day I, rather sheepishly, headed back to the library to return the book I’d just checked out. But wait—there’s a happy ending to this tale! The library staffer who handled the book return was [Oscar Arriola](. And he told me about this super cool photography show he organized: “[Akito Tsuda: Pilsen Days]( It features photos taken by a Japanese photographer named Akito Tsuda back in the 1990s when Tsuda was living in Chicago and going to Columbia College. Tsuda discovered Pilsen courtesy of a class assignment and spent the next four years documenting the neighborhood and making friends with residents. (The show [opens on June 3]( at the Harold Washington Library Center’s ninth floor exhibit hall.) So you might say that if I hadn’t forgotten that I’d read the book I wouldn’t know about Tsuda’s show. On the walk home, I entertained myself with another senility test that was apropos to Tsuda’s art show. Name [Pilsen’s aldermen]( over the last 70 or so years. Here goes: Sigcho-Lopez, Solis, Medrano, Soliz, Marzullo I didn’t use my cell phone. Not even once. Pretty good! I still got it. Go see Akito Tsuda’s photo show, everybody—and tell Oscar I sent you. Don’t forget. [Logo with text: The Ben Joravsky Show. Features man wearing a cap and headphones, and Chicago flag stars.]( 🎙 [Listen to The Ben Joravsky Show]( 🎙 ◈ [Better Dead]( by Max Allan Collins. In another thriller, supersleuth Nathan Heller figures out how Roy Cohn manufactured a bogus case against the Rosenbergs . . . but not in time to save them. ◈ [Deanna Isaacs]( on cicadas. ◈ [Ben Joravsky]( (from 2014) on Ameya Pawar. ◈ Editor and reporter [Mick Dumke]( of Block Club Chicago: Journalism Lessons. ◈ The Reader’s [Salem Collo-Julin]( on the Reader going weekly. ◈ Data strategist and activist [Denali Dasgupta]( on scary structural change. [Documenting queer grassroots organizing]( “Images on which to build” reveals the diverse lineages of gay and trans communities. by [Micco Caporale]( | [Read more]( → [For the labor of art made transparent]( Tony Lewis, Devin T. Mays, and Ellen Rothenberg discuss “WORKS BY,” their group show at the Neubauer. by [Coco Picard]( | [Read more]( → [two people standing on a stage speaking into microphones]( [Review: IF]( IF makes you wish you were watching some other movie. by [Noah Berlatsky]( | [Read more]( → [Review: Back to Black]( Back to Black lazily tells the story of Amy Winehouse, committing the usual sins of the biopic genre. by [Emma Oxnevad]( | [Read more]( → If you still haven’t gotten your Ben Joravsky fix, check out last Friday’s podcast episode featuring the Reader’s editor in chief Salem Collo-Julin! They talk the Reader going weekly, how the media has evaluated the mayor, and the difference between a city that fears its mayor (Rahm, Daley) and one that doesn’t. ["Oh, What A Week for…Revenge?”]( Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader Thursday, May 16, 2024 [READ ONLINE: VOL. 53, NO. 16]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [Become a member of the Chicago Reader.]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [YouTube icon]( [Website icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616