"Later they put some crumbs of their bread and butter on the windowsill and a robin redbreast came to eat them. The whole day was like that."
— Evelyn Waugh, Vile Bodies
Letter of Recommendation: Honesty is Still In Style (The New York Times Magazine, March 19, 2019)
I wrote an essay about a sign that deeply affected — and still haunts — my life in Chicago.
Mother's Ruin (The Chicago Reader, March 21, 2012)
I wrote an essay about why Chicago cocktail bars should stop being so Midwestern. In return, I got a sh*tload of hate mail and a mention on our local NPR affiliate.
The Who, The What and The When: 65 Artists Illustrate the Secret Sidekicks of History (Chronicle Books, 2014)
I contributed an essay about Coco Chanel’s lover, the largest influence on her nonpareil style.
The Chicago Food Encyclopedia (University of Illinois Press, 2017)
I contributed entries on Chicago's cocktail history, as well as its relationship with Japanese food.
DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Chicago (Dorling Kindersley, 2017)
For the past decade or so, I've helped revise DK's guide to Chicago, as well as a handful of other titles in this long-running travel guide series.