Rather than have my parents buy me something (clothes, housewares, etc.) for my birthday one year, I told them to just donate to the local public radio station in my name. I did this knowing full well the gift would be this great little book/DVD by This American Life's Ira Glass with cartoonist Chris Ware, two staples of Chicago hipness. Their subject is historic preservation, Louis Sullivan and Richard Nickel, as told by cultural historian Tim Samuelson. It's a gem, a multimedia feast with Glass's words and Ware's images on the DVD (a slideshow/film that originally screened with audio accompaniment in front of a theater audience) and illustrations from Samuelson adorning the book. ( )