Rec Room Series

Gently Stalking Janice-Katie

wednesday, august 4, 2010
black rock bar
3614 n. damen
chicago, il
8:00 pm

Gently Stalking Janice-Katie

curated by Kathryn Regina


“I am Mrs. Beck,” said the older woman uncertainly, throat moving. She stared at Janice-Katie. “And you are…?”

Janice-Katie laughed, as if carefree. She said, “I am Janice-Depressive, you know, like ‘manic-depressive’?”

Mrs. Beck frowned.

--excerpt from “And You Are?” by Stacey Levine


Stout women with a hatred of twilight are difficult to trail. But a character as curious as Janice-Katie is worth an ardent shadowing. In her book of short stories The Girl with Brown Fur, Stacey Levine reveals a glimpse of this moonfaced outer space hater: Her face is so wide because of her stomach medicine. As a child she believed that the sun is the size of a person’s hand. Spring is the time she feels most alone, and she carries herself as if in need of coddling. Don’t you love her? Don’t you want to discretely follow her vehicle, keeping at least two cars between you? So do we. That’s why our group of gumshoe writers, artists and musicians have been gently stalking her en masse. And my god, have we got stories to tell. Come to this Reconstruction Room to learn all about the previously undiscovered life of one of fiction’s most beguiling characters: Janice-Katie.

With performances by:

Jason Bredle

Jac Jemc

Lindsay Hunter

Sarah Eaton

Megan Martin

Stacey Waite

Melissa Walker

Zach Dodson

Greg Lytle

Bianca Stone