This Month

This month we work hard for the money. A hilarious debut novel puts you on the short-order line with a disaffected skate-punk, while an interview with Phoebe Damrosch takes you behind the scenes at a foodie Mecca. We also consider a few memoirs of initially questionable career choices. An advertising copywriter takes a job as a cabbie, while another young woman does just about anything in pursuit of fame. Sometimes, what you do for a living gets people riled up. A fictional culture war erupts around a suburban sex-ed teacher, while reformers take to the streets in a history of Chicago's red-light district. The only shock in Paul Shambroom's photos of city-council meetings is the banality of democracy. In a fresh translation of a neglected Swiss classic, a lowly assistant toils away for an irascible inventor. However you punch the clock, you'll find something to distract you in here.