@MayorEmanuel Book Release Party at the Hideout | Photo gallery + wrap-up
"We're celebrating 15 years in Chicago, and we've never had the mayor stop by," joked Hideout co-owner Tim Tuten in front of a crowd gathered to celebrate the release of Dan Sinker's book, The F***ing Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel. Just moments before, Rahm Emanuel himself made an appearance at the party, shaking hands with those in attendance and taking the time to sign Sinker's book. "You are an asshole," read the short note from Rahm on the front page of Sinker's personal copy of the mayor-lampooning tale told 140-characters at a time.
Sinker invited fellow writer Dmitry Samarov to the stage, where the cab driver-turned writer read his tales of navigating Chicago the night of the Blackhawks victory and a $100 fare to Aurora. Next up was the hard-hitting beat poetry of Louder Than A Bomb, bringing a brave group of teens to the stage to share their oftentimes emotionally-wrenching stories with the crowd (proceeds from the night's event benefited parent organization, Young Chicago Authors.) Writer Megan Stielstra followed, sharing a short story set against the backdrop of moose hunting in Alaska.
When Sinker took to the stage to announce the evening's surprise musical guest, most in attendance seemed to already have an inkling who it would be. But the shock of seeing Jeff Tweedy take the stage and launch into a short set of Black Eyed Peas songs still registered. His acoustic takes on "I Gotta Feeling" and "Rock Your Body," were at once sarcastic and endearing, with frequent stops and starts as well as a continual questioning of the Peas' lyrical prose. "Having spent some time with their material, I believe they are evil geniuses," remarked Tweedy before turning in a spoken-word rendition of "My Humps."
A beaming, beyond-content Sinker ended the night with a reading from his book, touching on two passages that encapsulated the compelling nature of his piece-by-piece, consistently profane narrative. He described the hallucinations of his fake mayoral candidate after eating a jar of expired baby food, which included fever dream run-ins with Marshall Fields and Curtis Mayfield. His reading of one of the story's near-conclusion ended in a meeting with the out-going mayor Daley, who reveals the secrets of the mayoral title.
If @MayorEmanuel were still tweeting, he'd more than likely describe the evening at the Hideout as, "A night to motherfucking remember."
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