Greg Zimmerman

Greg Zimmerman

@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

📚 Bookseller: @roscoebooks.bsky.social 🛠️ Daily Editor: @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social ✍️ Marketing and communications: @storystudiochicago.bsky.social 📝 Book Reviewer: open.substack.com/pub/thenewdorkreviewofbooks Chicagoan. Marquette alum. Runner

755 followers365 following1.4K posts

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

When I was in college in Milwaukee, I worked one summer on the Brewers grounds crew…and got to do the sausage race as the Hot Dog a few times. It’s basically the crowning achievement of my entire life.

MLB@mlbbot.bsky.social

The first sausage race in World Series history goes to ... 👀

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

I am in Juan's current Novel In A Year cohort (the next one starts January 2027), and no exaggeration, it has been the best writing year of life. For real, DO NOT miss this chance!!! #writersofbluesky

Juan Martinez@fulmerford.com

Please spread the word: Applications are open for my 2027 @storystudiochicago.bsky.social Novel-in-a-Year First Draft course. I can promise you a supportive community & sessions where I share every strategy I've learned to help you finish your draft. www.storystudiochicago.org/advanced-wri...

storystudiochicago.orgNovel in a Year: First Draft with Juan Martinez - StoryStudio ChicagoThis is the year to write your novel Novel in a Year: First Draft is a unique opportunity to join a writing cohort, study novel craft, workshop key scenes, measure your progress, meet deadlines, and g...
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Book 58: The Disappearers, by Marlon James Holy Moses, this one left a mark. Gonna need a minute to collect myself before trying to write anything intelligent about this book. #books #booksky

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Book 57: Whalefall by Daniel Kruas What an inventive novel — in the spirit of stories like The Martian, this is a survival story about human ingenuity. But really the joy of this novel is the (movie trailer voice) PERSEVERANCE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT! #Books #booksky substack.com/profile/3501...

substack.comGreg Zimmerman (@thenewdorkreviewofbooks)Book 57: Whalefall, by Daniel Kraus How the hell is this book gonna be a movie that doesn’t have the audience puking all over each other? 😅 (Yeah, there’s carnage, and very detailed descriptions of w...

Greg Zimmerman reposted

StoryStudio Chicago
@storystudiochicago.bsky.social

Friends, this class begins TOMORROW night. Now's the time to register. You won't be disappointed. www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/clas...

storystudiochicago.orgThe Sentence Alive: Four Lessons on Memoir Through Sound, Body, and Form with Paul Lisicky - StoryStudio ChicagoIn this four-week craft-centered seminar, multi-genre writer Paul Lisicky invites participants to explore the deep architecture of memoir at the level of the sentence and the scene.
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

If you have to ask, the answer is probably yes. "...if it’s creating extra work for other people, it’s not cool." Exactly. Also, if it's something weird and/or not returnable, then you just basically dined-and-dashed the bookstore. lithub.com/am-i-the-ass...

lithub.comAm I the Asshole For Ordering a Book at My Local Indie and Just… Not Picking It Up?Hello again! Welcome back to the finest (and drunkest) corner of the internet, home of the darling and daring sensation known as Am I the Literary Asshole? If you’re a first time reader, we’re a bi…
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Book 56: The Brightness, by Chad Harbach (out 10/27) Welcome back to Westish College! I get to review this for CHIRB, so stay tuned for much more on one of the biggest publishing events of the year. I loved it, flaws and all. And I can’t wait to see what other readers think. #books #booksky

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Pynchon’s likely last novel, Shadow Ticket, is out in paperback today. Here was my review last year at the Chicago Review of Books: chireviewofbooks.com/2025/10/07/t... #book #booksky

chireviewofbooks.comOne Last Pynchonian Caper: On "Shadow Ticket" - Chicago Review of BooksThomas Pynchon would prefer not to be introduced. Which is fine, because by now, on the occasion of the publication of his ninth novel, Shadow Ticket, the 88-year-old famously reclusive writer needs n...
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Anyway, here’s the hardworking staff at @roscoebooks.bsky.social in Chicago. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a billion times: Buy books from people who love books, not evil corporations that are more interested in colonizing the moon. substack.com/@thenewdorkr... #books #booksky

substack.comGreg Zimmerman (@thenewdorkreviewofbooks)Earlier this week, I had some extra to think…because I was once again stuck behind an Amazon delivery van that had inexplicably stopped in the middle of a side street, creating a block-long back-up of...
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Book 55: The Book of the Jaguar, by @celldeathvic.bsky.social "Schultz is a magnificent craftsman on a prose level — funny, engaging, and wise." More here on this inventive novel: substack.com/profile/3501... #books #booksky

substack.comGreg Zimmerman (@thenewdorkreviewofbooks)Book 55: The Book of the Jaguar, by Victor Ladis Schultz Schultz’s (who, full disclosure, is a friend and colleague) debut novel is a wildly imaginative fiction, a piece that feels completely fresh. ...
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Since I’m currently reading the long-awaited follow-up (The Brightness), it’s sweetly poetic that my first post for Book Riot was about Chad Harbarch’s The Art of Fielding — and the “cursed dearth” of sports novels. bookriot.com/the-cursed-d...

bookriot.comThe Cursed Dearth of Literary Sports NovelsA few weeks ago, Chad Harbach’s debut novel The Art of Fielding was excerpted in Sports Illustrated. I couldn’t tell you the last time that happened; that

Greg Zimmerman reposted

StoryStudio Chicago
@storystudiochicago.bsky.social

Happy pub day to our wonderful instructor @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social, who is the editor of this new anthology of Latiné horror stories, Something Followed Us Home. Also includes stories from instructors @fulmerford.com and staffer @anandalima.bsky.social! www.simonandschuster.com/books/Someth...

simonandschuster.comSomething Followed Us Home“Insightful, humane, and original, Something Followed Us Home features the most exciting voices in dark fiction today and is a must read for any we...
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Random thought that cracked me up on my run today: I wonder what the nice old ladies out on their morning fitness stroll who waved at me would think if they knew I was listening to Angel of Death by Slayer as I ran by them.

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Malcolm Gladwell, at this point, is in the same category in my mind as disappointing dudes like Nate Silver and Matt Taibbi -- dudes I used to like, until they showed us who they are.

Ron Charles@roncharles.bsky.social

Malcolm Gladwell takes on America’s gun violence — but his provocative new book kept making me argue with him even when I agreed with him. roncharles.substack.com/p/malcolm-gl...

roncharles.substack.comMalcolm Gladwell Takes Aim at Guns“The American Way of Killing” examines America’s extraordinary tolerance for violence.
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Book 54: Exit Party, by Emily St. John Mandel Mandel’s latest is unmistakably Mandelian. Really enjoyed it. But. This one didn't feel quite as inventive or imaginative as we're used to with Mandel. I'm still searching for that Station Eleven high. 😅 #books #booksky substack.com/profile/3501...

substack.comGreg Zimmerman (@thenewdorkreviewofbooks)Book 54: Exit Party, by Emily St. John Mandel Mandel’s latest is unmistakably Mandelian: leaps through place and time (and in this case, universes), a surgical approach to crafting plot in disparate ...

Greg Zimmerman reposted

StoryStudio Chicago
@storystudiochicago.bsky.social

Peep our latest newsletter for all the happenings at StoryStudio Chicago, including: ✍️10% off all creative writing classes until Monday ✍️Julia Fine's Intensive Coaching Cohort is open for registration ✍️Two upcoming events with NBA-winner Justin Torres buff.ly/9SAmWWE #writingcommunity

Greg Zimmerman reposted

StoryStudio Chicago
@storystudiochicago.bsky.social

This week in Chicago, we enjoyed our last post-7 pm sunset until next March. Which is sad. But also, it means autumn is nearly here. Which is happy! Take 10% off creative writing classes with our Last Days of Summer Discount. Use code AUTUMN10. buff.ly/Pme4uQ9 #writingcommunity

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

If you only read one part of this conversation, read Adi's last three paragraphy's about book trends and copycats. It's <chef's kiss> #books #booksky

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social

Read @adialsaid.bsky.social's and @gregzimmerman.bsky.social in conversation as part of our new feature, a podcast on the page. They’re talking about Matt Dinniman's DUNGEON CRAWLER'S CARL (Ace)! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/09/16/c...

chireviewofbooks.comCritics in Conversation: Our First Incursion into LitRPG with "Dungeon Crawler Carl" - Chicago Review of BooksCritics in Conversation is a “podcast on the page” feature in which contributors discuss a book or issue currently making headlines in the literary world. Read our piece on Angel Down here and Yestery...
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Scene 1: Popular Chicago radio station posts AI slop on Instagram and Facebook about the Bears Scene 2: Eleventy billion people comment that everyone hates popular Chicago radio station's shitty AI slop Scene 3: Popular Chicago radio station removes shitty AI slop post Win. #chicago

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Happy Labor Day! Here are three of my favorite novels about the importance of unions: 1. Deep River, by Karl Marlantes 2. The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter 3. The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane #books #booksky

Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Man, I love this Block Club piece. A friend visiting Chicago a few years ago: "Why is there an eight-lane highway through your beach park?" Ummmm, good question. blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/04/a...

blockclubchicago.orgAs Chicagoans Prepare To Bike The Drive, Some Dream Of A Car-Free Lakefront All YearFor five hours each year, thousands of Chicagoans take over the highway on bikes and on foot. As the event turns 25, advocates are imagining what else could change along the lakefront.
Greg Zimmerman
@gregzimmerman.bsky.social

Book 50: Under the Falls by Richard Russo Russo will never not be a must-read writer for me, but it feels like he phoned this one in a little. 😬 Read a little more here: substack.com/profile/3501... #books #booksky

substack.comGreg Zimmerman (@thenewdorkreviewofbooks)Book 50: Under the Falls by Richard Russo Russo will never not be a must-read writer for me, but it feels like he phoned this one in a little. We find out at the end he’d originally written this as a...