Not to link before the LINKS! but this Mental Floss article on Toni Morrison<\/a> mentions that Toni Morrison believed in always improving. She didn\u2019t publish The Bluest Eye<\/em> until she was 39. In the spirit of always improving, I learned a song on guitar I thought was out of my reach this week. You\u2019re never too old, dear friends. <\/p> What I\u2019ve Been Reading This Week:<\/strong><\/p> Driving West Ridge\u2014>Humboldt Park to visit my brother last week, I was overcome with a desire to consume anything Chicago I could get my hands on. History, poetry, politics, fiction, whatever\u2014so naturally, when I got home, I opened up some Eve L. Ewing. <\/p> I was already reading Beloved<\/em>, a pretty dense novel. Often when I read dense novels, I get like 100 pages in and then go read a book of poetry. I think I need to be reminded that I can finish things. Anyway, it was just supposed to be a day with Electric Arches<\/em>. Of course I couldn\u2019t stop and moved on to 1919<\/em>. These are truly magical books. They demand turned pages, even though they are hard to hold with one hand. They fall into that class of poetry that is good and interesting, but also, I would recommend it to my parents\u2019 book club. Then back to Morrison. <\/p> Full disclosure: I hadn\u2019t read Beloved<\/em> before making fun of that fascist baby who had nightmares because of it<\/a>. I\u2019m still gonna bully that loser and his loser mom for their whinging, because even though it is a nightmare-inducing novel, so is the history of the United States<\/em>. Complaining about this book being taught in schools is coward behavior. <\/p> Maybe it\u2019s me, but I don\u2019t hear Beloved<\/em> talked about in the pointless \u201cGreat American Novel\u201d conversation losers seem so intent on having every so often. It should be. This is a dense, difficult read. It\u2019s full of horror. It\u2019s also lyrically written, absolutely read-out-loud-able, and features masterfully drawn characters. When Sethe is lamenting that life is long periods of suffering briefly interrupted by short periods of intense joy? I felt that. The scene of Sethe, Denver, and Beloved ice skating? Wonderful. The shifting perspectives in the chapters leading up to the end of Part I, when the thing everyone\u2019s been talking around drops? Perfect novel writing. <\/p> LINKS!<\/strong><\/p> A very cool thing the NBA is doing: spotlighting Black-owned restaurants in every NBA city<\/a>. They\u2019re doing one city a day all month, check it out and eat well. <\/p><\/li> Paul Vallas is a Chicago mayoral candidate who I deeply do not like. He is the Cop Candidate. I like him even less than Lightfoot, which is saying something. Fitting for the Cop Candidate, The Triibe broke the story that his son, Gus, was one of three San Antonio police officers who shot Kevin Johnson to death<\/a> after calling him \u201cboy.\u201d Gus Vallas still has a job as a cop. Paul Vallas seems totally cool with the situation. Vote Brandon Johnson for mayor. <\/p><\/li> Parker Molloy, here on Substack, on the hypocrisy of Free Speech Warriors downplaying book bans<\/a> but acting like the apocalypse is coming when a college kid is mean to them on Twitter. Do not let these dweebs turn book banning into “identity politics for librarians.”<\/p><\/li> Speaking of book bans, you\u2019d think the former NYT book editor would know better than to carry water for a fascist like Ron DeSantis. But you would be wrong. I don\u2019t love linking to Twitter threads, but this breakdown from John Warner is worth the look<\/a>. <\/p><\/li>![](\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2443c10a-5634-4dcd-847f-a653063dc09f\"\/)