Here at The Ape, in addition to slapping our over-sized monkey paws on keyboards to bring you daily food for thought, fiction, poetry and general reading material for your work bathroom breaks (do they notice that you always bring your phone into the toilet?) our contributors also write books. Like whole books to read or to purchase as gifts around the holidays for the unsuspecting family member.

A Camp Story: The History of Lake of the Woods & Greenwoods Camps (Landmarks)
By David Himmel

Part memoir, part historical discovery. Who could have foreseen the impact of opening a summer camp in southwestern Michigan? Certainly not Louis and Florence Greenberg way back in 1935. Today, nearly 80 years later, people from around the world consider their summers spent at Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods Camps the very best time of their lives. A Camp Story is the tale of a legacy left by an orphan. It's a story of boys and girls in bathing suits and bug spray as they sail about, sneak out, fall in love, and find themselves, summer after summer. A Camp Story is a poignant and hilarious account about the ultimate camp experience how it touches so many people, how it continues to shape so many lives.

A Mercenary Girdler
By Elizabeth Harper

Dark, funny, violent, angry, sexy poetry. Seriously, Harper's pen will make you think, make you angry, make you wanna go out and do something.

Ballad Of The Small Talker
By Chris Churchill

When the mall begins to falter, Jack uses his writing to help rally the citizenry to save the mall. Then the circular goes out of business. This leaves Jack, optimism in jeopardy and writing career potentially nearing an end, to find a new way to keep his friends and the beloved tourists at Oakwood filled with his positivity. To keep his audience, he must learn how the internet works and how to blog. Furthermore, he must teach his audience how the internet works and what a blog is.

Pisces Eye
By Dana Jerman

Pisces Eye is a new collection of poetry for the human condition. It is built to be read and reread, shared and rediscovered. Smart without being smarmy or academic. Strange yet gentle. Cool in its warmth. Featuring several mini-collections under one mantle, Dana Jerman has constructed a fresh edge to follow. A curious trip toward the ecstatic condition, and an investigation into a belief in true happiness. May you read this and retrieve the subtle magic of the smiling heartaches and queer bliss it has to offer.

Seven Deadly Plays and thensome
By Joe Janes

A collection of seven short plays and three bonus plays by playwright Joe Janes. The seven short plays feature locations in and around Chicago that one might consider deadly - an abandoned grain silo, a haunted cemetery, an urban farm in a rough neighborhood, for example. The plays were all written in one week and presented in a show at the Strawdog Theatre at the end of that week. Three bonus plays are included. Two from Columbia College's New Plays Festival and one from Robot vs Dinosaur's show "Pretty From A Distance"

Pastaman
By Paul Teodo

Chicago in the '60s was a hard place to be for young Tony Tormenti. Racial strife, political corruption, and changing social values have torn apart his world. He is assaulted by conflicting messages from his Catholic school, his damaged drunken father, and the black spot he acknowledges stains his soul. "Pastaman" is a coming-of-age story reverberating in the rhythms of a great city in turmoil, reflected through the characters living in Tony's south side Italian neighborhood. Tony's life is a painful journey from the depths of despair to miraculous recovery and redemption.

Perfection Awaits
By J.L. Thurston

In Perfection, a Person is never poor, or rich, or faced with tough decisions. All of the Population is given equal housing and opportunities. A Person can be what the Surveyors believe is best for them to be, within the Rules. Most of the time, a Person is happy. But Calvin Jones has become stuck. He failed to go to college, failed to apply for a Marriage Card, and therefore has limited success in his life. He can't help but wish that They hadn't Eliminated her for saying what she had said. He knows he would have lived a successful life if he could have lived it with her. But in Perfection a Person has no choice, no freedom, and no way out.

Like a Burning Moth With No Idea as to How He Caught on Fire: A Collection of Word Jazz
By Don Hall

Don Hall served as host of The Moth Story Slams in Chicago for five years. For each theme, he composed a word jazz introduction. This is a collection of a few of these pieces.