Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson, a new documentary on the late writer by Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) opens today at Landmark's Century Centre; see J.R. Jones's long review for more.

Alejandro Escovedo plays the Taste of Chicago in support of the new Real Animal, the hardest-rocking record of his career.

Noel Coward's 1924 comedy Hay Fever runs through 8/24 at Circle Theater in Forest Park. "The whole production unfolds with a grace and intelligence that releases all the latent power in Coward's deceptively glib work," writes Jack Helbig.

Jonathan Demme's 1984 Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense, is one of the Music Box's midnight movies this weekend.

The Real Hunter S. Thompson The story of the reporter who became the story
By J.R. Jones

Search our movie listings or our archive of 20,000+ brief movie reviews

Local Release Roundup New music from Joan of Arc, Ceiling Stars, Palliard, Gemstones, the Pale Gallery, and Josh Rodriguez
Sharp Darts by Miles Raymer

The List This week's best live bets, including Wzt Hearts with Thank You, Alejandro Escovedo, Dave Gonzalez, Wolf Parade, and more.

This week: Taste of Chicago, the African/Caribbean Festival of Life and the American Music Festival.

Best of Chicago Readers' and the Reader's picks for best rock act, Best MC, best DJ, and more.

The Secret History of Chicago Music Eddie Harris
By Plastic Crimewave

Early Warnings Buy tickets to upcoming concerts.

Search our music listings.

Fuel for Food The city’s last coal hauler is down to just two customers—both in the restaurant biz.
Omnivorous by Mike Sula

Plus: 19 West Town restaurants east of Ashland

Best of Chicago Readers' and the Reader's picks for the best restaurants, bars & clubs, food and drink stores, and more.

See our Alfresco Guide for outdoor dining around Chicago.

See our guide to this year's farmers' markets.

Search the Reader Restaurant Finder.

Letts Lite Chicago's playwright of the moment kicks back with a little comedy called Superior Donuts.
By Zac Thompson

The Sleeperer How Theater Oobleck's The Strangerer got the 3 AM e-mail from New York.
The Business by Deanna Isaacs

Best of Chicago Readers' and the Reader's picks for the best playwright, director, and more.

Search our theater & performance listings.

Our Galleries & Museums page features works by Keith Herzik, Irene Perez, Martin Koenig, and others. We also offer the city's most comprehensive listings for galleries, museums, and special events.

Best of Chicago Readers' and the Reader's picks for the best gallery, best emerging artist, and more.

Photo by Lauri Apple

Visit our Flickr group or see our You Shoot page for more information and more of our favorite pictures.

Readers' choices and the Reader's choices, in music, restaurants, bars, movies, and more

News Bites Michael Miner: If you're troubled by what the Supreme Court just had to say about gun laws, read some libertarians.
Friday at 2:06 pm

Clout City Mick Dumke: The HDO closes up shop and alderman George Cardenas stops raising money. Coincidence?
Thursday at 7:53 pm

Chicagoland Whet Moser: The little brats shooting off cherry bombs tomorrow might grow up to be great literary journalists.
Thursday at 6:47 pm

Free Shit Reader staff: Free admission to the Art Institute, History Museum, and MOCA
Thursday at 6:20 pm

The Food Chain Kate Schmidt: Find edible art at Dan Shumski's diverting Fruit Slinger blog.
Thursday at 6:14 pm

The Sports Page Kate Schmidt: A limo, an order of Taco Bell, and Ozzie Guillen makes for a potentially explosive combination.
Thursday at 6:13 pm

On Film Pat Graham: Best film westerns? Some people have no business picking 'em.
Thursday at 4:55 pm

Onstage Albert Williams: Local playwrights are invited to submit plays to the Dionysos Cup 2008 festival.
Thursday at 4:13 pm

Crickets Monica Kendrick: Apologies to Animal Law for an error of omission.
Thursday at 12:50 pm

Post No Bills Peter Margasak: Dusty Groove reissues a lost avant-garde funk jam from Bill Cosby.
6/26 at 12:58 pm

See our roundup of fairs, festivals, and other fun stuff in Chicago as well as Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the rest of Illinois.

Does the president have an official food taster?
By Cecil Adams

Would virtual sex be too close to cheating?
By Dan Savage

"In the ever expanding world of restaurants, food, and cuisine we have a new distinction between bakeries and pastry shops."

Send a letter to the editor.

This week’s crossword: Multiplicity (PDF)
By Ben Tausig

The issue of June 26, 2008

Barack Obama The Reader goes way back with Barack. Here's an archive of stories about or concerning him, including Hank De Zutter's 1995 profile.

Latin School Soccer Field The Reader has been covering the Latin School's plan to build a soccer field in Lincoln Park since July of 2007.

Green Chicago A selection of stories on the environment, green technology, and food production

Property Taxes Wondering what your property tax assessment actually means for your next bill? Don't understand why your landlord just raised your rent again? Curious how you can be paying more taxes when all the politicians say they’re not raising them? Here's a free archive of Ben Joravsky’s illuminating property tax stories.

TIFs Reader columnist Ben Joravsky has written extensively on the issue of TIFs, or tax increment financing districts, their virtual lack of oversight, and their devastating effects on city services. A free archive of his TIF stories is here.

Police Torture Reader staff writer John Conroy was the first journalist to report that there was a pattern of police torture at Chicago's Area Two headquarters. A free archive of his stories on the subject is here.