When it comes to travel, it seems that only Westerners travel ironically and self-consciously and write tales of their adventures, while Easterners merely fester in their chains.

Book reviews and author interviews, as well essays on the state of publishing.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the latest statistics on HIV indicate that the populations at greatest risk for new infections are African-American men who have sex with men, and African-American women. This is a marked shift from the early years of the epidemic, when HIV/AIDS was perceived—and stigmatized—as a white gay men’s disease.
Chicago’s annual Pride Parade is a popular spectacle for queer Chicagoans and their straight allies. But even its most ardent supporters often wonder if Pride, meant to commemorate Stonewall, has retained its insurgent and activist roots. This year, a new group named Bash Back! decided to reclaim some of what it feels is the original spirit of Pride: protest, critique and anti-assimilationist politics.