Haunted Houses, Porn Stars & Toy Collectors: My Encounters with Remarkable Places, People and Things

Richard Knight, Jr.

Rollercoaster – This rollicking collection of non-fiction by Richard Knight, Jr.– articles and interviews originally published in the Chicago Tribune, the Reader, NewCity, and elsewhere – captures a time, place and slice of life (what is sometimes called, “counterculture”) that makes for a rollercoaster ride of laughter and tears. The time is the 1990s and early 2000s. The place is Chicago. And the lives include a cross-section of people: gay Square dancers, shopping mall pianists, Drag Queens, strippers, ambulance drivers, S&M masters, and more. Along the way, Richard pioneers a style of writing, the “eyewitness chronicle,” which provides a minute-by-minute account of what’s happening to place you solidly in the moment. A must-read.