Peggy Shinner is, in no particular order, a Chicagoan, a Jew, a black belt in karate, a sloucher, a lesbian, a baby boomer, a careful consumer of knives and bras, a one-time shoplifter (of a jar of nutmeg from her neighborhood Jewel), a possessor of two flat feet and one surgically-enhanced snub nose, longtime lover of Ann, daughter of Harriet (née Alter) and Nathan (né Shinitzky). Her father, who thought she could do no wrong, was responsible (inadvertently) for her flat feet; her mother, her sharpest critic, was responsible (deliberately) for the nose job Shinner got for her 16th birthday....

Kinsella alert! A few weeks back, Gossip Wolf got a copy of the new book from Cap’n Jazz and Joan of Arc front man Tim Kinsella. Unlike his previous efforts, All Over and Over is decidedly nonfictional—published earlier this fall, it’s a diary of the final full U.S. tour of his band Make Believe in 2006. This wolf recommends it to anyone who’s ever felt totally human emotions such as alienation, paranoia, and self-doubt—or who’s ever wondered what it’s like to sit in a van for a few months with Sam Zurick....

My parents took me to see Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander when it was released in the United States in 1983, and it warped me forever. I don’t recall what month we went to see it, but I was either about to turn 13, or had just turned 13. I do remember that we saw it at the Nickelodeon Cinema, just off Commonwealth Avenue, located in between buildings belonging to Boston University....

Readers of Chicago rejoice! This weekend is the Printers Row Lit Fest, the annual Tribune-sponsored celebration of books and the people who write them. In a concession to unpredictable June weather, all author appearances and writing workshops this year will be indoors, either at the Harold Washington Library or Jones College Prep, though the bookseller booths will remain outside. As always, the festival is mostly free, except for featured speakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Sun 6/11, 1 PM, $5, $35 for assigned seating) and Senator Al Franken (Sat 6/10, 3 PM, $35); if you want to spend $50 for a Fest Pass, you can see them and get access to the express signing lanes....

Two of New York’s best noise-rock dudes have recently come together to form Uniform, a brand new industrial harsh-noise project, and the results are incredible. The duo is Ben Greenberg, formerly of the Pygmy Shrews and currently in the Men, and Michael Berdan, who was the singer for Drunkdriver, possibly the most brutal noise-rock band of our time. Today’s 12 O’Clock Track is “Our Blood” from Uniform’s upcoming 12-inch and it blends repetitive electronic beats and painfully blown-out guitar feedback with Berdan’s signature damaged, panic-attack vocals....

About as far from dry as the live staging of a Supreme Court oral argument could be, Arguendo, presented by New York-based group Elevator Repair Service at the MCA this spring, reached its climax with a lawyer stripping down to his birthday suit. The case? Barnes v. Glen Theatre (1991), in which erotic dancers in South Bend, Indiana, claimed the state’s ban on public nudity violated their First Amendment right to freedom of expression....

Dum Dum Girls Today is opening day for the MLB; if you haven’t filled up on beer and Cracker Jacks by the end of the afternoon and are in the mood to keep the celebrations going there are some great shows to see tonight and in the coming days. “On her latest album, Too True (Sub Pop), Dee Dee Penny (aka Kristen Gundred) lets go of the 60s girl-group elements from earlier Dum Dum Girls records to tighten her embrace of the 80s,” writes Peter Margasak....

Action Bronson Chicago Psych Fest V kicks off tonight at the Hideout with Verma, Mako Sica, Energy Gown, Crown Larks, and the Humminbird—if you can’t make it out this evening, you have a couple more chances to see the annual psych celebration as it continues through Saturday. If psych isn’t your bag there are plenty of other shows worth checking out through the weekend. “Henry Butler is probably the most technically dazzling pianist in blues and R&B today,” writes Dave Whiteis....

There’s a reason dark, woody-toned bassist Clark Sommers is a ubiquitous presence on the Chicago jazz scene—not only does he have impeccable timing and bulldozer force but he’s incredibly versatile. That last quality is a true hallmark of great Chicago musicians of the past, who often had to adapt to all manner of gigs to earn a living, whether playing in pickup bands for a touring R&B singer or playing polkas at a Polish function....

Carissa Dixon David Daniel, Colleen Madden, and Eric Parks in Much Ado About Nothing American Players Theatre is a place of qualified pleasures, starting with the fact that a Chicagoan has to drive four hours through interstate hell to enjoy them. Located in Spring Green, Wisconsin, about an hour west of Madison, the 35-year-old, Shakespeare-centric company sits on a hill amid rolling farmland—but you’ve got to trek to the top of that hill to enter the main amphitheater....

Film noir, which wasn’t even recognized as a genre until its first great wave was petering out in the late 50s, is more popular than ever. Beginning August 28, Music Box and the Film Noir Foundation will present the seventh annual edition of Noir City: Chicago, a weeklong series of noir favorites and rarities. (I’ll be there on September 1, talking about the Robert Ryan movies The Racket and House of Bamboo....

Michael Gebert Steamed “ten karat” shrimp dumplings at Fat Rice Many people looking at the line ahead of them at Fat Rice, Chicago’s only Portuguese-Macanese-hipster-Asian-fusion restaurant, have surely wished the place would expand. Now it is—but instead of adding space, it’s adding hours with a dim sum brunch on weekends. Which includes some classic Cantonese-style dumplings, as well as things found only in Macau. The lineup includes dumplings but also a bowl of congee with Manila clams and bacon, a Macanese take on European food called minchi (“essentially a not-so-sloppy sloppy joe served over rice,” says Conlon), and two different versions of lacassa, a stew related to Malaysian laksa....

For some time Nicolas Cage seemed capable of enlivening any lousy film. No matter how routine it felt, you never knew exactly what Cage might do from one scene to the next. He might break out some bizarre mannerism, as though channeling the outsize freaks he played so memorably in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Vampire’s Kiss (1988). Or he might deliver his lines so sincerely as to suggest an undercurrent of genuine feeling apparent in no other part of the movie....

Gary Shteyngart is as much a New York media entity as he is a writer. Part Yakov Smirnoff, part Woody Allen, he’s a literary showman like no other. He’s a prolific blurber of others’ books. A parade of Hollywood and publishing A-listers do cameos in trailers for Shteyngart’s own work. Publishing today demands public engagement by authors like never before; the trouble comes when a reader must separate what’s on the page from what’s on YouTube....

Michael Gebert Rick Bayless One of you feels like Japanese food, the other feels like Mexican food . . . and for just one day, you can both be happy. That’s this Sunday when Rick Bayless joins chef Fred Despres of Arami and his chef wife Lisa Despres—who just happens to work at Frontera/Topolobampo—for an “East-meets-South of the Border” event showcasing street foods from both countries. There will be tasting stations featuring things like miso ramen with pozole garnishes, mushroom tacos with plum sauce, and a sake tasting, along with a cash bar; the cost is $75 here....

Since its founding, Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre (MPAACT) has produced large- and small-scale performances and original music and education programs centered on the spirit of collaboration and in celebration of African theater traditions. Now MPAACT is preparing to host Summer Jams, a weeklong festival featuring 17 different acts showcasing the work of primarily black artists around Chicago. The festival’s lineup offers a wide range of entertainment, exploring diverse content through a wide range of mediums, including music, sketch comedy, spoken word, and theater and performance....

To their credit, both Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn and Republican businessman Bruce Rauner occasionally acknowledge that the race for governor is really about how to address the state’s precarious economic health. After all, everything else—education, crime, poverty, the environment, even the cost of pizza and beer—hinges on it. But they’ve offered few concrete solutions for how to fix it, perhaps because they don’t have any—at least none they want to campaign on....

First-time actress Sara Podda (right) stars in Pretty Butterflies At nearly every international film festival in Chicago, one inevitably finds titles that recall adolescents’ first attempts at poetry. These films reference seasons, emotions, and plants (and some occasions, all three), and suggest an unhealthy degree of preciousness. I usually end up seeing at least one of these at every festival, either out of professional obligation or because I feel like exploring the outer reaches of the program....

For much of the last decade reedist Chris Potter has been experimenting with new forms, whether dipping deep into a groove-heavy electric sound with his band Underground or exploring orchestral writing and conceptual frames on his 2015 album Imaginary Cities. He’s pulled back a bit on his lush, patient new quartet recording The Dreamer Is the Dream (his third album for ECM), occupying the postbop comfort zone that’s made him one of the most admired jazz artists of his time and an idol for countless students....

I recently had a discussion with my sister in which she was going on and on about how recent additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, were “stupid” characters. I explained that, first off, Doctor Strange is actually not stupid, he’s the sickest character of all. He also typifies modern-day Marvel Universe’s skill for taking campy, kind of silly, and outdated characters and placing them in a contemporary setting....