Favorite Chicago-related book or author?

I'm curious to know what Chicago-related book or author is your favorite. Interpret this how you will--it could be books about Chicago, books set in Chicago, an author who lived here, or whatever.

I honestly don't think I have more that 2-3 books about Chicago in my Library ... I mean there's Mike Royko's Boss, but that's about it. I recently acquired the AIA Guide to Chicago but it's not worked its way into my library as yet (I only add books that I own and have read to my L.T. catalog).

- BTRIPP

Over the weekend, I picked up Chicago's 50 Best Places to Find Peace and Quiet (City and Company) by Karin Horgan Sullivan -- don't know that it's a favorite, but it certainly has made me happier in the last few days and restored my inner balance and curiosity about out-of-the-way corners of our city.

Non-fiction: American Pharaoh is an excellent biography of Da Mare. The AIA Guide to Chicago is a must, and I'd also recommend Haymarket Revisited. Art for the People, Heather Becker's book on WPA murals in the public schools, is a fascinating story. But the primo book that should be in every library of Chicagoiana is The Encyclopedia of Chicago, an amazing undertaking.

Fiction: Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawki series captures the real city. And one book I've been pushing is Tina Jens' The Blues Ain't Nothin': Tales of the Lonesome Blues Pub, spooky stories set in a north side blues club. And, of course, anything by Nelson Algren or Ben Hecht.

Here's my Chicago collection

Great topic jaime_d

As far as Chicago-related/located fiction goes the towering figure for me is Nelson Algren. Anything by the man---I just plain love his writing and he will never go out of style for me. Richard Wright is essential for all of the obvious reasons and when I was a teen, Saul Bellow was a particularly favorite author of mine---The Adventures of Augie March anyone? Some other standouts for me are The Razor's Edge and Sister Carrie, particularly the latter.

But it doesn't end at the "established" greats for me either. On a more contemporary front I quite enjoyed Crossing California by Adam Langer from a coupel of years ago. The real Chicago gem these days is I feel Aleksandar Hemon---loved his collection of stories The Question of Bruno and loved his novel Nowhere Man (which is drenched in Chicago locales) even more so. He really is as good as all of the hype. . .plus, he lives in my neighborhood so how could I not have a penchant for him? :-) And last but not least, everyone should have the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware---just brilliant and beautifully illustrated!

On the non-fiction front I would have to say that Slim's Table by Mitchell Duneier is a particular favorite. I have always hoped that Duneier would perform a follow-up sociology study to the one doctorate study which led to Slim's Table and publish those reflections. Also excellent was There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz. Throw me in with the rest of the masses that ate up Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen---that was a riveting page-turner for me.

I have so many! Most of them are about Chicago and it's architecture - Don't have any fiction favorites that I can think of except The Time Traveler's Wife.

Lost Chicago by David Lowe is a book my Mom had on her shelves when I was little and I still love it today. The Perfect City by Bob Thall captures all my memories of living in the loop when I was young. I love Above Chicago by Robert Cameron and there are a slew of other books about skyscrapers.

Thanks so much for so many wonderful suggestions! I agree that the Encyclopedia of Chicago is a treasure. My recent favorite is Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno. It's narrated by a high school boy growing up on the south side during the early '90s.

I've read so many great Chicago-related books in the past couple years that it is very difficult to pick favorites. Although I only read it for the first time last year, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury is now one of my favorite books ever, and it's loosely inspired by his memories of going up in suburban Waukegan. In non-fiction, I recently loved Near West Side Stories by Carolyn Eastwood about the Maxwell Street neighborhood. It's wonderful.

You can also see my complete "Chicago" collection in my library.

Cast of Shadows by Kevin Guilfoile includes some references to Chicago that are pretty interesting. Great plot, too.

I think The Jungle and and Sister Carrie helped me understand Chicago more than any other books about it I've read. To me, they are like hearing about when someone was a kid and what made him the way he was, like why he drinks too much or hates poodles. American Skin is a favorite because it reminds me some much of being in high school - ah, sentimentalism...

I live in Chicago and haven't read about it. Shame on me. I'll definately look into some of these recommendations.

I did read Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster. She is a Chicago author and it's set in Chicago. This is a very funny read that I highly recommend. Plus, it's fun to know the bars, locations, etc. that she talks about.

Bellow and Algren definitely.

And "The Jungle" has to be considered one of the most important Chicago novels.

Cyrus Colter is one of Chicago's most underappreciated authors. His The River of Eros, A Chocolate Soldier, The Hippodrome, and his collection of short stories The Beach Umbrella should be of particular interest to anyone from Chicago. His death at 92 a few years ago went almost unnoticed.

Just to show how under-appreciated Colter is, my previous post highlighted a different A Chocolate Soldier as a Touchstone, not Colter's. I'm don't how to change it.

Edgar Lee Masters was part of the Chicago Renaissance in the early 20th century. Spoon River Anthology might be my favorite book of all time.

I would add Native Son, Raisin in the Sun and The House on Mango Street to this list, as well as anything by Gwendolyn Brooks, particularly A Street in Bronzeville.

You have all covered it except STUDS TERKEL. The man was prolific and amazing.

>17 LisaCurcio: Terkel is by far #1. Wright, Algren, and Brooks are in my top 6. But missing are my #2 Carl Sandburg and #4 David Mamet.

There are no Children Here is another excellent nonfiction that hasn't been mentioned yet.

For fiction (fantasy) I really enjoy the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (not always accurate to the City, but still lots of fun landmarks and cultural stuff in them).

Here are two favorites of mine...

(1) Chicago, Growth of a Metropolis, a U of C published book backed by by lots of historic photos and maps. For me, the bedrock of Chicago history background.

(2) A Portfolio of Fine Apartment Homes. Published in 1928. Published by Baird & Warner just before the Great Depression - A really interesting out-sized book with a page on each building. Most were very upscale buildings (think Lake Shore Drive where it runs east & west in the Gold Coast). Each page had a brief text, photos and apartment layout plan. Some are VERY large with servant's quarters and whole upscale 1890s to 1928 bit (some of the room designations are in French - o la la).

It's a rare book. The Chicago Architecture Foundation on Michigan Ave in downtown has one; I gave it to them. It's unique and a snap shot of how the upper crust lived in that era. If you like architecture or the history/sociology of that era and you're downtown, take a look at it (I don't know the deal about seeing the Foundation's books, however). Check with them. For a glimpse of the book/page or two see this auction site:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5587913

I owned the book for 30 years or so. Believe me, it doesn't fit in anyone's book case short of Paul Bunyan's. Poured through it about every other year and marveled at it. Finally thought that it might be of use to others; off the Foundation.

Friday evening I was over at a Tweet-Up that @ColonelTribune was hosting at the Billy Goat and was gifted a (signed) copy of Rick Kogan's A Chicago Tavern, which is a history of "The Goat". It's a fun, albeit brief, read, an would recommend it to all and sundry who have an interest in the newspaper industry, the diner/saloon industry, and "the American Dream".

 

> 20

(2) A Portfolio of Fine Apartment Homes

Oooooohh, floor plan porn!

I was at the CAF shop yesterday and bought an "as is" copy of Neil Harris' Chicago apartments : a century of lakefront luxury, which I have been wanting for ages. A small tear at the top of the spine of the dust jacket, and I got it for 60% off.

Some are VERY large with servant's quarters and whole upscale 1890s to 1928 bit (some of the room designations are in French - o la la).

O la la, indeed! I now know that a "chambre pour malles" is a trunk room. I like the little rooms for the telephone, too!

For the same discount and for the same reason, I snagged a copy of Richard Christiansen's A Theater of Our Own: A History and a Memoir of 1,001 Nights in Chicago.

I like Julie Hyzy's White House Chef series. I don't know if she lives in the city or the burbs.

I just recently discovered Billy Lombardo--his The Logic of a Rose is a wonderful collection of short stories about growing up in Bridgeport in the 1970s. Tony Romano's If You Eat, You Never Die is also a collection of short stories, about growing up Italian in Chicago in the 1950s. Both very evocative, and moving.

I will also take a moment to let you know about the two books my press has just published, both historical mysteries set in 1890s Chicago: Death at the Fair and Death at Hull House. See our website (www.alliumpress.com) for more info.

This thread went a little dormant, but I'm currently reading a really cool book called The Book (it doesn't want to touchstone but the work page is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/9812591 ) and it's a dystopian fiction set in Chicago. It's a quarterfinalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and the author grew up in the Chicagoland area so all the geography and places of interest are accurate. :) If anyone's looking for a good Windy City fiction, I highly reccommend it!

Shame on me too! The only book that I've read that is about Chicago is Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and I thought it was great. I may have read other books by authors from Chicago but I didn't know they were from Chicago, so maybe my list should be longer.

#26 - I really liked Devil in the White City! It seems to get mixed reviews from a lot of people I know, but I thought it was really well done.

Well, since this thread was resurrected, this is probably a good place to share some info about an upcoming event with Chicago authors. My favorite Indie bookstore in the suburbs is in Glen Ellyn (called The Bookstore - creative name, right?). They are putting on a big event in conjunction with the city (village?) of Glen Ellyn called Glen Ellyn Bookfest on June 19th. Sort of a cross-promotion of downtown Glen Ellyn businesses and some area authors.

> 27

I'm one of those who gave it a mixed review. I loved the sections about Daniel Burnham and the World's Fair, but thought that the parts about Holmes were too speculative and too reliant on what we would call today tabloid journalism.

#28 - I think the author of the book I mentioned in #25 is going to be there. If you're going, his name is M. Clifford. How's that for random coincidences of thread resurrection? ;)

I love the real feeling of "place" you get in Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. It makes such a difference when the author has actually lived in the location they're writing about!! That's why I've set a few of my novels in Chicago -- everything just feels more authentic!

#25 - Thanks for the plug!! :)

#26 & #27 - I loved Devil in the White City too! Such a great, historically accurate (for the most part anyway!), fun read. I love anything about Chicago architecture & design, so this up-close look at Burnham and the World's Fair was right up my alley.

#28 & #30 - I AM going to be there! So random. :) Here's some extra info incase anyone's interested:

First Annual Glen Ellyn Bookfest
"Downtown Glen Ellyn Celebrates Books"
June 19th, 2010

Join us for Glen Ellyn’s First Annual BookFest, Saturday June 19, 2010. This event, sponsored by the Downtown Glen Ellyn Alliance, is designed to showcase local literary talent. To date our featured authors include Elizabeth Berg, Melanie Benjamin, Kelly O’Connor McNees, J.A. Konrath, Tony Romano, Stephanie Cowell and Charlene Baumbich (and M. Clifford!!). For more information about the day’s event, see the information below, become a fan on Facebook (Bookfest 2010: A Celebration of Books in Downtown Glen Ellyn) or follow us on Twitter (GEBookfest).

In addition to readings and workshops, many stores and restaurants in our historic downtown will host authors to sign and sell books from 10: 00am – 1:00pm.

http://downtownglenellyn.com/?p=1267

** For anyone interested I will be attending the event as a featured author and will be stationed at Sign of the Whale Antiques to sell & sign copies of The Book and The Muse of Edouard Manet **

Sign of the Whale Antiques (next to Bundles of Books!!)
558 Crescent Boulevard
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-4151
www.signofthewhaleantiques.com

I hope to see many of you there!
M. Clifford

Glad you asked:
In no particular order:

Explosion of Chicago's Black Street Gangs: 1900 to Present by Useni Eugene Perkins

Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott

Lawd Today by Richard Wright gives a well done description of one day in the life of a black working man in depression era Chicago.

The University of Illinois at Chicago by Fred W . Beuttler, Melvin G. Holli, and Robert V. Remini

Chicago Soul by Robert Pruter

Urban Blues by Charles Keil

Hyde Park Illinois by Max Grinnell

Unafraid of the Dark By Rosemary L. Bray

Black Chicago: the Making of a Negro Ghetto 1890-1920 by Allan H. Spear

I Believe You'll Never Walk Alone (poems) by Herbert D. Odom, D.D.S.M.B.A.

Confessions of A Parish Priest by Andrew Greeley

But my favorite fiction is The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson:and my favorite non fiction is Black on the Block: the Politics of Race and Class in the City by Mary Pattillo.

>30 elbakerone:/31
That's funny! M. Clifford Author, I will definitely try to stop by and see you!

>33 DevourerOfBooks: Great! Looking forward to it. :)

I also really liked Devil in the White City and The Time Traveler's Wife.

To those I'd add Norman Maclean's books, A River Runs Through It and Young Men and Fire. He was a Chicagoan and Dean of Students (I think) at the U of Chicago.

Also, There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, a remarkable book about growing up in a Chicago housing project.

I'm currently reading the graphic novel Therefore, Repent!, set in Chicago and quite like the depictions of Chicago architecture and neighbourhoods. Wicked sense of humour, to boot.

Pynchon's Against the Day starts in Chicago at the World's Columbian Exposition, before going everywhere.

Interesting thread. The Chicago (area) author who has influenced me most is Ernest Hemingway, mostly because I, like Ernie, am a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School, although I was there 49 years after he was. One of my most treasured books is a copy of the 1917 Tabula (OPRF's yearbook from Hemingway's senior year).

For related reasons I have a number of books on Prairie School architecture in general, and Frank Lloyd Wright in particular, because OP is filled with it.

I agree that the Encyclopedia of Chicago and Chicago: Growth of a Metropolis are wonderful books, along with Chicago and West Towns Railways, published by the Central Electric Railfans Association (CERA). And then there are Ron Smith's books which chronicle the Top 40 charts of WLS and WCFL when they were great rock 'n' roll stations.

For powerful and important fiction, it's hard to beat The Jungle.

And lastly, I love the half-dozen volumes of Mike Royko's collected columns -- I wish ALL his columns were anthologized. And his biography of mayor Daley (Richard J., not Richard M.) is a classic.

Now, what have I forgotten?