Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2002-044922
Dewey Edition
21
Reviews
"Blei's . . . powerful, uneven, brooding interest dwells two streets down from Nelson Algren, a block away from Harry Park Petrakis, and along the very busy line from Ernest Hemingway to Carl Sandburg, a few versts from Chekhov." --Arthur Shay, Chicago Sun-Times, "Blei has a rare ability to describe internal emotions as if they were earth-shattering events. . . . A refreshing alternative to much of the autobiographical fiction written today." -- New York Times Book Review, "His is honest writing, spare, natural; the humor is dry; his appreciation of beauty, total." -- Chicago magazine
Dewey Decimal
977.3/11
Table Of Content
Prologue: Chi Town Blues Man in the Window Chicago's Basements: The Best Bargains in Town Chef Louis: Supercook Museum of Science and Industry Sydney J. Harris: Strictly Personal To Stop and Shop Europe in Chicago Cook County Hospital: The Confidence of Competence Fred and the Chocolate Factory Bill Stipe: Invisible Artist Max Zimmerman: I Can Drink It For You Wholesale Nik Klein: The Man Who Made Rocking Horses Travels with Royko, or The Kid Who Scattered Pigeons Paint My Body, Color Your Mind Hoke Norris and the Quiet Night of Soul Leaving the Big Bulls to Him for Whom the Bell Tolls on the Hour: J. Robert Nash Marshall Field's A Man on a Bench Max Marek: The Antique Dealer Who Beat Joe Louis Chicago's Unfortunate Newsies: They Come with the Corner Chicago's Public Library School for Brewmasters Jovan Trboyevic: Restaurateur the Great Hot Dog Quest Dr. Preston Bradley: Amazing Grace Mornings at Pixley's Chanoyu in Uptown Chicago The Headhunter: Dr. A. R. Schwartz Inside Chicago's Foreign Banks A Warm Conversation with Burr Scavenger City Gene Sage: Party Man On James T. Farrell: Not Resting in Peace Flake-Out at the Skin-Flicks Dixie: On the Outskirts of Town Jerome Holtzman: Chicago's Dean of Baseball Aiko: Poetry in Paper Paul Romaine: A Writer's Bookseller in Chicago Bringing the Good News to Skid Row Bill Mauldin, Up Front Ben Gingiss: Tuxedo Junction Nelson Algren (1909-1981): Buried Alive in Chicago Sing a Song for Van Buren Street Dance with Me Petros! Sam Karnick: Window Washer the Petrakis Story, 1980 Studs: The Art of Talk The World's Greatest Czech Bakeries (Memories of Old Bohemian Bakeries) Back to the Neighborhood: The Houby Parade M. Pancner's: A Czech Shop on Main Street/Cermak Road Libby & Jana: The People's Restaurant (L&J Lounge: The People's Bar) Epilogue: Coming Back.
Synopsis
The final work of the acclaimed Chicago Trilogy, this collection of nonfiction tales reveals Sandburg's "city of the big shoulders," concrete and neon; uptown and downtown; State Street, Michigan Avenue; the river, the lake; the matter-of-factness and poetry of Chicago people-from Mike Royko describing his neighborhood to the observations of newspaper vendors, from Studs Terkel interviewing jazz great Dave Brubeck to dinner with Petros in Greek Town. Written with a keen eye, Blei's stories evoke a vanished Chicago, a city of gritty and colorful neighborhoods and their gritty and colorful characters. It is, as he writes, a "love letter to a city that has meant so much to me." Chi Town is the story of Norbert Blei's love affair with a city that shaped both his life and work. Along the route of this walking tour of the Windy City, you'll dine with Petros in Greek Town, see Studs Terkel in action at WFMT interviewing Dave Brubeck, listen to Mike Royko describe his own neighborhood, share the thoughts of Chicago sportswriter Jerome Holtzman, and meet newspaper vendors, trash collectors, bankers and more.
LC Classification Number
F548.52.B58 2003
