By MARK GUARINO JUN 05, 2020 | 2:40 PM  I’m standing outside a Dollar Tree on Chicago’s West Side. Looters stripped it of its inventory all day. Then they torched it. Unlike most late-night scenes like this I’ve covered this week as a journalist, this one lacks the frantic energy we’ve [...]

By MARK GUARINO CHICAGO TRIBUNE APR 01, 2020 | 5:59 PM Two days after the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series title in 108 years, baseball fans were still crowding streets in the Loop, still screaming, still crying, and still chanting about a victory seen as a miracle [...]

MARK GUARINO November 25, 2015 Ever since Bob Dylan and Keith Richards wrote memoirs that turned into unexpected hits, the holiday season has been rife with books that take similar deep dives into the lives of musicians and their off-stage stories. This time around, the bookshelves [...]

Viewpoints collide in Gary Rivlin's "Katrina: After the Flood By Mark Guarino August 27, 2015 9:00 a.m. Katrina fatigue" might best describe the condition of those in New Orleans who lived through the 2005 hurricane and subsequent flood only to continue to struggle through another set [...]

By Mark Guarino Like any formidable memoir from a counterculture veteran, "Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead" is heavy on sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. You know the kind I'm talking about: hotel after-parties that snap into orgies, [...]

BY MARK GUARINO Since Liz Siegel and Greg Jacobs live two blocks from the Sulzer Regional Library in Lincoln Square, logic would dictate that there really is no need for their sidewalk kiosk stocked with free books for anyone. But there is. The couple is part [...]

BY MARK GUARINO | CHICAGO TRIBUNE Chicago gospel had an unexpected moment this Grammy season when, late into the awards telecast, Beyonce and an all-male choir reprised "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," a song Mahalia Jackson recorded in 1956, the lyrics of which were written by Thomas Andrew [...]

By Mark Guarino For fans of late night political comedy, this is a very bad year. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, the twin pillars of the genre, are vacating the hosting chair of their respective Comedy Central shows — Colbert to CBS where he takes control of David Letterman's former slot and Stewart [...]

BY MARK GUARINO | CHICAGO TRIBUNE Last month, Daniel Handler, the author of the successful "A Series of Unfortunate Events" franchise, himself created an unfortunate event that got the book industry roiling. Handler was emceeing the National Book Awards in New York City, where, after Jacqueline [...]

BY MARK GUARINO | CHICAGO TRIBUNE Choosing a gift for a music lover does not necessarily mean having to fill a stocking with CDs, records or an iTunes gift card. They will readily accept books on their favorite subject, which is a good thing, considering the [...]