In line with the hush-hush theme of the Spring Books issue, we asked some Chicago authors—whose soon-to-be-released books involve secrets in some way—to spill the beans about everything from combating writer’s block to exposing hidden information.
I think it’s probably easier to keep a secret now than ever before because the stakes have been made more clear. Social interaction has been warped by technological capabilities to the degree that now it’s assumed everyone will share everything. So secrets have an added gravity in that they stand in opposition to these newly acquired values. I often get anxious because I can’t remember why I feel anxious, and then I feel actual relief when I realize that I have nothing to hide. The profundity of that satisfaction inspires me to consciously work to keep things as simple as possible and limit the necessity for secrets.
Family secrets fill Julia Glass’s successor to the National Book Award-winning Three Junes.
A pair of immigrant oral histories power Cristina Henríquez’s The Book of Unknown Americans.
Kathleen Rooney’s O, Democracy! is rooted in a disillusioning job in Illinois politics.
Colson Whitehead takes on the World Series of Poker in The Noble Hustle.
