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TIP OF THE WEEK
Ann Packer

Brian Hieggelke

There are two variations of life after high school--one group moves miles away, in geography and lifestyle, from the world in which they were raised. The other group stays. They settle in their hometown, they marry their high-school sweetheart, they live what portends a predictable life. In Ann Packer's outstanding debut novel, "The Dive from Clausen's Pier," Carrie Bell is a recent college graduate still working at the University of Wisconsin in the Madison where she grew up. She's engaged, still hanging with her high-school friends, but discontent swirls within. Then her fiancee is struck by a paralyzing tragedy. Turmoil ensues, as Carrie grapples with grief, wanderlust, guilt, responsibility, ambition and the life-changing consequences of youth shackled by tragedy. Packer masterfully depicts the patrician bohemia of Madison, while creating characters so real and interesting in emotion and dialogue that you can't wait to follow their fates.

Ann Packer reads April 22 at Anderson's Bookshop, 123 Jefferson, Naperville, (630)355-2665.

(2002-04-18)

Also by Brian Hieggelke

TIP OF THE WEEK
Joe Kita, a writer for Men's Health magazine, confronted the inevitable surge of regrets and self-doubts brought by the onset of his fortieth birthday by tackling them head-on. He set out to revisit his twenty greatest personal regrets, and chronicled them in "Another Shot: How I Relived my Life in Less than a Year."
(2002-04-11)

TABLE TALK
I was reading the 60th anniversary issue of Gourmet magazine recently, and much was made of the seemingly poor timing of the magazine's launch, coming as it did on the eve of America's entry into World War II. The distance of that time, and the endurance of the magazine, made relics of such ruminations about propriety. Until today.
(2001-09-13)

PLAY WITH FOOD
Unlike New York, the soul of Chicago theater has always been its nonprofits, making all the city a stage for pre-show culinary explorations, depending on which company's production you are taking in on a particular evening.
(2001-09-06)

TABLE TALK
The Peninsula Chicago hotel (108 East Superior, (312)573-6616), led by executive chef Gerhard Doll, is set to open two new restaurants this week. Shanghai Terrace, a "contemporary version of a 1930s Shanghai cocktail and supper club" opens on the fourth floor on August 22.
(2001-08-23)

ROADFOOD ESSENTIALS
(2001-06-14)

TOONING JAPANESE
(2001-05-24)



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