Collector’s Piece
Gioia Diliberto explores a famous "Collection"
"I think most women can be divided into two groups—women who like clothes and women who adore clothes," author Gioia Diliberto says. "I’m in the group who adore clothes."
The local author’s new novel—her follow-up to the acclaimed "I Am Madame X"—is, indeed, all about clothes. Settling in post-World War I Paris, Diliberto tells the story of Isabelle Varlet, a small town girl who ventures to the glamorous city and takes a job under the one and only Coco Chanel, at that time a rising star in the fashion world. The novel—which not only dissects the intricate details of fashion creation, but also the celebrity and lifestyle of that world in that era—is historical fiction in the grandest sense.
"I was thinking about what I wanted to do next after ‘Madame X,’ and I thought I wanted to stay in the world of Paris and art because I like it a lot," Diliberto says. "And I was thinking about Coco—one of the most interesting and dazzling personalities of the modern era—and I was surprised she didn’t show up more in novels."
The story’s told in first-person from Varlet’s perspective, a road Diliberto decided to travel after her aunt had sent her a scrapbook of sewing samples that once belonged to her grandmother. "It just hit me that I would write about a seamstress," she says, her immediate reaction to opening the book.
As with all historical fiction, there’s a balance the author must respect, between a responsibility towards the subject matter to portray it in a factual light, and also an open forum to, to put it simply, fill in the blanks and indulge.
"My rule now is to not contradict any known truth," Diliberto says. "It’s an important rule."
Diliberto says Chanel’s impact is still felt today. "She invented a look that kind of defines how women still dress—casual, simple, clothes anybody of any age and income bracket can wear. Fashion was very constrained then—corsets, elaborate hats and so on. Simple materials weren’t expensive, and she brought that to the masses in a way that hadn’t been done before." (Tom Lynch)
"The Collection" hits shelves on September 11. Diliberto discusses the novel at Women and Children First Bookstore on September 19.
BOOK EVENTS
"In a Cardboard Belt: Essays Personal, Literary and Savage," by Joseph Epstein
The author of "Friendship" and "Snobbery" delivers another collection of humorous, pointed and bold personal essays.
Release date: September 6
"Mr. Skin’s Skintastic Video Guide: The 501 Greatest Movies for Sex & Nudity on DVD"
An alphabetical guide to celebrity bits and pieces, from the Chicago-based Mr. Skin. The mammoth collection documents everything from "10" to the Nicolas Cage-starring "Zandalee."
Release date: September
"Touch and Go," by Studs Terkel
The much-anticipated memoir by legendary author, disc jockey, oral historian and cultural phenom Terkel hits shelves by way of The New Press.
Release date: November 1
"Devilish Greetings: Vintage Devil Postcards," by Monte Beauchamp
Beauchamp’s sequel to the 2004 hit "The Devil in Design," this collection features more than 150 rare devil-themed postcards gathered from 1898 through the 1950s.
Release date: October 3
Chicago Humanities Festival
With new executive director Stuart Flack in tow, the 2007 CHF—themed "The Climate of Concern"—features appearances by authors, poets, artists, scholars and more, from all over the world.
October 27-November 11 at various venues
"Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing and the Erosion of Intergrity," by Anne Elizabeth Moore
The editor for the late Punk Planet and "Best American Comics" series examines the destructive results of corporate involvement in the underground.
Release date: November 1
MUSEUM EVENTS
How Both Halves Lived: An All-Day Tour of Prairie Avenue and
Pullman Historic District
Step back through time into the lives of the wealthy and the working class of nineteenth-century Chicago with this extensive tour, which starts at the Glessner House Museum on Prairie Avenue and stretches into Pullman, through the Hotel Florence, and finishes with an original Pullman worker’s cottage.
September 15 at the Glessner House Museum
A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City
Doctors Without Borders hosts this outdoor exhibit, where you can see firsthand what it's like to be one of the thirty-three million refugees who have fled from conflicts across the globe.
September 19-23 at Grant Park
Intersections: Views Across Chicago
View Chicago as you’ve never seen it before, in an elegant 1930s portrait created by these previously unreleased panoramic photographs taken by the Chicago Surface Lines streetcar company. Taken to document the city’s transit system, they cover nearly every major intersection throughout Chicago.
Opens September 20 at the Chicago Architecture Center
Tea Time Tour: Decades of Dresses, 1910-1990
Join clothing collector Ruth Thomas as she presents a variety of dresses dating from all periods of the twentieth century, and find out how fashion has evolved and how these articles of dress illustrate women’s history.
September 20 at the Elmhurst Historical Museum
Mapping Chicago: The Past and the Possible
Find out how different maps illustrate different aspects of Chicago’s social, political and cultural life by looking at over thirty maps of the area, including maps of Fort Dearborn circa 1808, the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and even one for the 2016 Olympics.
Opens September 23 at the Chicago History Museum
Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination
Science and entertainment collide in this fun and informative exhibit, which presents the engineering marvels of the "Star Wars" universe alongside real-life counterparts in modern technology and robotics and possible developments of the future. Experience levitation in an actual hovercraft, explore the science of prosthetics, and check out props from all six "Star Wars" films, including the robotic hands of Anakin and Luke Skywalker.
Opens October 5 at the Museum of Science and Industry
Maps: Finding Our Place in the World
Explore how knowledge of our surroundings has shifted through time, with more than a hundred maps created by luminaries like Ptolemy and Leonardo da Vinci through J.R.R. Tolkien and expanding into the digital mapmaking techniques of today.
Opens November 2 at the Field Museum
