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The first neighborhood fairs of the year start today. The Body Politic Street Festival, held along the 2200 block of North Lincoln, will feature three stages of entertainment–one of rock ‘n’ roll, one of blues (booked by the very cool Wise Fools Pub), and one of family stuff–plus the usual plethora of food and junk to buy. The fair runs 11 to 8 today, 11 to 6 tomorrow. It’s $3, $5 per family; the price includes a raffle ticket. Call 868-3010 for details.
Demand’s so high at the annual World’s Largest Used Book Sale that they charge for opening-night admission–you decide if $5 is worth having first crack at nearly half a million used books in 40 categories. It’s in the parking lot of the Old Orchard mall in Skokie, at the corner of Golf Road and Skokie Boulevard. The sale runs tonight from 6 to 10, tomorrow 10 to 10, and 11 to 9 daily through Thursday. Next weekend’s hours: 11 to 5 Friday, 6 to 10 Saturday night, and 10 to 6 Sunday. It’s free after tonight. Call 708-724-9715 for more details.
Amnesty International got its start almost exactly 30 years ago, when a British lawyer read about a pair of Portuguese students who toasted liberty and got seven years in jail for their exuberance. Now thousands of volunteers worldwide write letters of protest in hopes of freeing political prisoners and improving human rights generally. At Second City’s annual Amnesty benefit tonight, But Seriously, Folks, big-time alum Tim Kazurinsky joins the casts of the various Second City ensembles for a night of comedy. Things get under way at 7:30 at 1608 N. Wells; tickets are $30. Call 427-2060.
Calvin Trillin, gourmand, raconteur, New Yorker staff writer, and famous recipient of pay “in the low three figures” for his weekly Nation column, will spin tales tonight at the annual Institute of Psychoanalysis education-fund benefit dinner. The 60-year-old institute is Chicago’s center for psychoanalytic study, boasting a variety of social-service and mental-health programs and one of the largest psychoanalytic libraries in the world. The dinner is in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Inter-Continental, 505 N. Michigan. Cocktails are at 6, dinner’s at 7; Trillin rocks the house at 8:30. Tickets are $175. Call 726-6300.
