Never A City So Real: A Walk In Chicago (2004)

Book Info

Author

Alex Kotlowitz

Genre

Nonfiction

Series

crown journeys series

Rating

3.73 of 5 Votes: 5

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ISBN

1400046211 (ISBN13: 9781400046218)

Language

English

Publisher

crown

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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About book Never A City So Real: A Walk In Chicago (2004)

This was a great listen. From Manny's to Edna's to Betty Loren-Maltese ad the disaster that Cicero has always been. Luckily the Bud Billiken Parade went better in the year of this book than it did this year (there were killings, of course). And plaudits to his saluting Nelson Algren's great book, Chicago: City on the Make - a book I found sitting on my father's shelves a good number of years ago and loved at first sight. Approaching the city from the South one day, after an architectural association had voted Chicago #1 (they're always doing that), he realized that Chicago is perpetually a city of change, especially architecturally. We are always tearing things down and building new things. Just as long as it never gets boring. Keep changing the skyline.Highly recommended, but especially to Chicagoans and those who have visited.

This book is the anti-guide book to learning about Chicago. The neighborhoods and stories that the book discusses are the often overlooked, hidden tales. Despite having grown up near the city, I found it fascinating. The accounts are from people who had an impact on Chicago, its people and a few neighborhoods in various ways. The style of the book reveals intimate details that only a trustworthy author with a commitment to the Chicago and its people could garner. I am so glad that I could sit in on the conversations. p.s. Really enjoyed the account from Albany Park which reminded me of the many ethnic markets that I have frequented there...for ex. Andy's Fruit Ranch with its many Milka chocolate products.

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This book is so Chicago. Just like the city, it's fun, quirky, and diverse. The author clearly loves the grittier side of Chicago. The ritzier, Gold Coast/River North/Lincoln Park crowd is totally absent – which is fine. The father-in-law who improves a Gauguin by adding a cat and who fights for fair housing, the South Side painter who creates unofficial CHA murals of panthers, nudes, and Jesus, and the Vietnam vet who takes on Cicero corruption are so much more entertaining than any Lake Shore Drive socialite or CBOT trader. A fascinating quick read.
—Happyreader