Local Writers

So I read an article this morning about a bookstore in Forest Park specializing in mysteries, histories and biographies, celebrating its 20th anniversary. So early this afternoon, Amy and I are on the way to Forest Park to visit Centuries and Sleuths.

It's a comfortable bookstore that doesn't overwhelm you with sheer volume. I can only speak for myself, but when I walk into Powell's, particularly the one in Portland, I spend half my time in a panic that I won't see it all. My own goal was to to get something by one of the many Chicago Crime writers dubbed "The Outfit." This is a blog they operate. The nice lady working the shop steered me into Chicago Blues, a collection of hard boiled short stories by several of them. Looking forward to it.

We had brunch after at Francesca Fiore. Sausage. Eggs. Good stuff.

The Last Exorcism

I took Amy to see The Last Exorcism. A likable fundamentalist preacher is making a documentary about how he has faked exorcisms for the past 20 years by taking a camera crew with him to his "last exorcism." He shows how he arranges for sound effects and how he uses fishing line to pull over vases and pictures. He hasn't lived a sham so much as his faith has changed, and he has a strong belief in the science that recently saved his son's life. The only hitch is that for the first time, he seems to have run up against the real thing.

I mean that's great! I was delighted with the concept and execution with (as the critics I like are saying) the exception of the last two or three minutes.