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Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab
Cabdrivers and their yellow taxis are as much a part of the cityscape as the high-rise buildings and the subway. We hail them without thought after a wearying day at the office or an exuberant night on the town. And, undoubtedly, taxi drivers have stories to tell—of farcical local politics, of colorful passengers, of changing neighborhoods and clandestine shortcuts. No one knows a city’s streets—and thus its heart—better than its cabdrivers. And from behind the wheel of his taxi, Dmitry Samarov has seen more of Chicago than most Chicagoans will hope to experience in a lifetime.
An artist and painter trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Samarov began driving a cab in 1993 to make ends meet, and he’s been working as a taxi driver ever since. In Stories from a Chicago Cab , he recounts tales that will delight, surprise, and sometimes shock the most seasoned urbanite. We follow Samarov through the rhythms of a typical week, as he waits hours at the garage to pick up a shift, ferries comically drunken passengers between bars, delivers prostitutes to their johns, and inadvertently observes drug deals. There are long waits with other cabbies at O’Hare, vivid portraits of street corners and their regular denizens, amorous Cubs fans celebrating after a game at Wrigley Field, and customers who are pleasantly surprised that Samarov is white—and tell him so. Throughout, Samarov’s own drawings—of his fares, of the taxi garage, and of a variety of Chicago street scenes—accompany his stories. In the grand tradition of Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, Mike Royko, and Studs Terkel, Dmitry Samarov has rendered an entertaining, poignant, and unforgettable vision of Chicago and its people.
An artist and painter trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Samarov began driving a cab in 1993 to make ends meet, and he’s been working as a taxi driver ever since. In Stories from a Chicago Cab , he recounts tales that will delight, surprise, and sometimes shock the most seasoned urbanite. We follow Samarov through the rhythms of a typical week, as he waits hours at the garage to pick up a shift, ferries comically drunken passengers between bars, delivers prostitutes to their johns, and inadvertently observes drug deals. There are long waits with other cabbies at O’Hare, vivid portraits of street corners and their regular denizens, amorous Cubs fans celebrating after a game at Wrigley Field, and customers who are pleasantly surprised that Samarov is white—and tell him so. Throughout, Samarov’s own drawings—of his fares, of the taxi garage, and of a variety of Chicago street scenes—accompany his stories. In the grand tradition of Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, Mike Royko, and Studs Terkel, Dmitry Samarov has rendered an entertaining, poignant, and unforgettable vision of Chicago and its people.
124 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2011
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446 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
October 6, 2011
I was a bartender for fifteen years, and some of the smartest, most creative people I know work behind steering wheels and bars. But people who haven’t spent time on that side of the service sector probably will be surprised when they read Samarov’s debut, because this slim volume unfolds with a complexity and humanity not often found in memoirs twice its size.
Organized by days (Monday - Sunday), Hack is illustrated throughout with Samarov’s distinctive drawings and paintings. His writing style is straightforward and spiked with keen observations. He describes the people he encounters during a typical week—fares, other cabbies, cops—with empathy, even when their actions or speech make the reader squirm.
Mostly, Samarov drives and listens. His ear for dialogue is as finely tuned as his painter’s eye, and the passengers he quotes (and paints) are sometimes funny and sometimes pathetic. They are drunk or high or horny; racist, arrogant, or wise. It’s his job to deliver them to point B, and that’s what he does, listening to them while the meter runs, choosing his spoken words carefully, if at all.
He also shares the drudgery of the job, the long waits for fares at the airport and for mechanical repairs at the garage. Between bouts with boredom and hectic traffic and obnoxious fares, moments of inspiration and humanity and humor come along in unexpected places at unexpected times. One of the most surprising stories involves a pair of amorous Cubs fans en route from Wrigleyville to their suburban home in Downer’s Grove.
Hack helped me gain a new appreciation for cabbies, generally, and Dmitry Samarov, the artist, specifically. In about 125 pages of selective accounts of the people he encounters on the job, he is revealed more honestly than most memoirists are in several hundred pages of soul-baring testimony. It’s the sense of dignity he brings to these pages, I think, that sets his book apart. He avoids pronouncements and often keeps his thoughts about the people he encounters to himself, choosing instead to allow the reader to come to our own conclusions. In that way, we learn about the cabbie/author as we learn about ourselves. It’s a surprising, complicated, revelatory ride.
Organized by days (Monday - Sunday), Hack is illustrated throughout with Samarov’s distinctive drawings and paintings. His writing style is straightforward and spiked with keen observations. He describes the people he encounters during a typical week—fares, other cabbies, cops—with empathy, even when their actions or speech make the reader squirm.
Mostly, Samarov drives and listens. His ear for dialogue is as finely tuned as his painter’s eye, and the passengers he quotes (and paints) are sometimes funny and sometimes pathetic. They are drunk or high or horny; racist, arrogant, or wise. It’s his job to deliver them to point B, and that’s what he does, listening to them while the meter runs, choosing his spoken words carefully, if at all.
He also shares the drudgery of the job, the long waits for fares at the airport and for mechanical repairs at the garage. Between bouts with boredom and hectic traffic and obnoxious fares, moments of inspiration and humanity and humor come along in unexpected places at unexpected times. One of the most surprising stories involves a pair of amorous Cubs fans en route from Wrigleyville to their suburban home in Downer’s Grove.
Hack helped me gain a new appreciation for cabbies, generally, and Dmitry Samarov, the artist, specifically. In about 125 pages of selective accounts of the people he encounters on the job, he is revealed more honestly than most memoirists are in several hundred pages of soul-baring testimony. It’s the sense of dignity he brings to these pages, I think, that sets his book apart. He avoids pronouncements and often keeps his thoughts about the people he encounters to himself, choosing instead to allow the reader to come to our own conclusions. In that way, we learn about the cabbie/author as we learn about ourselves. It’s a surprising, complicated, revelatory ride.
October 17, 2011
Easy read and fairly interesting, but I was disappointed. Having lived in Chicago for six years, I think I may have had higher expectations for this book than the average reader. It wasn't as witty or entertaining as I thought it would be. Props though to the author for including some of his original artwork to illustrate various vignettes throughout the book....the best part of the book. It was also cool to read about certain streets and neighborhoods and know exactly where he's talking about.
September 30, 2011
An excellent read. Gritty, real. Samarov sketches his experiences driving a cab both in words and with his own drawings. I've lived in Chicago 25 years, and I've never seen this side of it close up, but the details ring true.
November 8, 2011
Each new cab passenger characterized in quick, sharp vignettes illustrated with super little sketches.
Best line about a White Castle drive thru passenger: She went to the castle but didn't come home with a prince.
Best line about a White Castle drive thru passenger: She went to the castle but didn't come home with a prince.
January 30, 2021
An interesting, but not overwhelming, collection of vignettes based upon the author's experiences as a cabbie in Chicago. Some of the little stories were interesting enough, and most are relatively predictable and expected if one has ever read anything about that trade. I am fascinated to learn more about Ukrainian Village, however. I've never been to Chicago. The drawings seems a little less wonderful than I would have expected from someone claiming an education in art, but they weren't bad either, just not impressive.
July 12, 2021
A quick read. Stories and impressions that don’t exactly add up to anything, but have a dark indigo kind of feel.
September 12, 2012
I received an autographed copy of this unexpected gem for Christmas 2011 from my best friend Noyoucmon, a Chicagoan who is himself an acquaintance of the author. ("Unexpected" because I had never previously expressed an interest in taxicabs, in Chicago or otherwise, other than to take the occasional trip in one.) What a wonderful gift it turned out to be, an evocative look at the Second City through the tutored eye of one of her many hackney carriage drivers! The grayscale watercolors filling the book remind the reader of the author's primary vocation as a painter, and he is as adept with prose as he is with the painbrush—his short accounts paint vivid pictures of life behind the wheel, from the routine hassles involved in the weekly ritual of leasing a cab to the varied characters picked up and dropped off on the expressways and backstreets of the Windy City.
November 27, 2011
What a fantastic book for people-watchers. 125 pages of anecdotes from the author's time driving a cab in the city of Chicago.
It's not a hard read, by any means, but a good one. Devoured it in a day.
The colorful prose is accompanied in black and white by the author's own watercolor, ink, and oil renderings of the sights he describes.
A perfect read for a day spent wandering around the above mentioned city.
Recommended. My only complaint? It's too short.
It's not a hard read, by any means, but a good one. Devoured it in a day.
The colorful prose is accompanied in black and white by the author's own watercolor, ink, and oil renderings of the sights he describes.
A perfect read for a day spent wandering around the above mentioned city.
Recommended. My only complaint? It's too short.
Want to read
November 22, 2011I work or a company that lends to taxi drivers so I think this book is a "must read" for me
Want to read
December 12, 2011Sounds interesting! I hope I win!
February 22, 2018
Taxi driver collected a number of tweets and other Internet items that he had posted into a book about some of his experiences as a taxi driver in Chicago during the last decade. As a former Chicagoan the book exhumed memories I haven't pondered of my time in the town as an adult which I found pretty engaging.
May 23, 2019
Great quick read with tons of little snapshots of Chicago and Chicago residents. Full of entertaining story snippets based on the author's own experience of driving a cab in Chicago in the mid-2000's. Samarov is a really gifted writer as an added bonus. Some of his phrasing and descriptions are just incredible. If you have ever lived in Chicago, definitely check this one out.
October 16, 2017
Fun little book. Samarov is a talented writer with a knack for conveying atmosphere and feeling with few words. If you've spent a lot of time in Chicago, you'll especially get a kick out of all the landmarks and intersections he names.
June 30, 2020
I've always enjoyed memoirs that dictate what a certain profession is like - Waiter Rant, Heads in Beds, etc. - and that's why I picked this up. It was a little different from what I expected, but not in a bad way. It's a very...artistic look at a week in the life of a cab driver.
December 4, 2021
Disappointing. The art was mediocre and the writing just as much so. Pushing through to the end so I could say I’d read the whole thing was cumbersome. I anticipated comedy and intrigue but was left sorely lacking.
July 11, 2020
DNF. Wasn’t engaging at ALL. I was hoping for some lighthearted entertainment, but was bored. Bummer.
July 25, 2024
I had to skip around a lot. It was best for me in small doses.
October 24, 2024
Waited too long to review this one but did enjoy it. Pretty dark at times, describing the lonely life of a cabby, but you sure get exposed to all sorts of people.
February 16, 2012
There's a part of me that has always longed to be able to experience life through other people..that part of me is the writer that identifies with what Samarov is doing. That isn't to say that driving a cab isn't hard, brutal, scary work but to be in the underbelly of Chicago is still a fascinating experience even when terrifying.
Dmitry explores all the unique people he meets in what seems like a typical week for him as well as a little about holidays and routine maintenance hell that cab drivers in Chicago have to put up with on a daily basis. I would have liked for a much longer read but this is a decent introduction that hopefully he will be able to write more about later. Even though he admits himself he gets only glimpses into random folk, it's usually enough and between Dmitry's drawings which even with some crudeness capture the essence of the lost souls he encounters and the wry sense of insight he has, he can tell a good story. Of course, this is one case where true life can be stranger than fiction.
Dmitry captures the essence of a variety of re-occurring themes here of class, racism, and the games people play with one another with a great wryness. I have a soft spot for him between twitter and seeing him at random indie band shows but my experience in general with cabs outside of him has not been great. Mainly, I experience them from the outside while riding my bike. They never pull over even when there is ample space and it causes dangerous congestion often. The passengers sometimes don't exit curbside like they are supposed to and I've nearly been doored by them. I also have never seen a cab driver ever signal to let me know he's ready to pull out or to pull over. I've even seen a cab driver hit a bicyclist while doing a spontaneous U-turn when he, not the bicyclist who was going through a green light at Milwaukee and Wood, was clearly in the wrong. (The cab driver pulled over and then argued with this bicyclist after he had hit him, which was so astounding considering the cab driver was CLEARLY in the wrong) So, when I read some of the criticisms of bicyclists, I had to remind myself Dmitry is dealing with the dumb messengers who don't look, weave in and out, and make everyone's driving and riding experience a perilous venture into traffic hell. At the same time, some balance to say not all bicyclists are like this would be preferable. Though, I have to say, most cab drivers I've run into are nothing like Dmitry either. I say this because doubtless all cab drivers have one story or another to tell but few go to the lengths Dmitry has to tell it and his experiences are definitely worth reading about.
Some favorite quotes:
pg. 22-23 "These people, and many others less memorable, serve as signposts all across this town. There's some kinship between them and the hacks who haunt these avenues; these forgotten shades serve as the only constant company on deserted streets at any hour of the day or night. Their presence reaffirms our own, while also reminding us of the merciless repetition of this work."
pg. 26 "If cars are fish, then city buses are the whales in the water of the thoroughfare."
pg. 37 "Vampire Hours: Hauling up and down empty avenues on winter weeknights can be its own kind of purgatory."
pg. 44 "Fog comes in and hides the skyscrapers just as the last of the graying milky daylight fades. Streetlamps light no more than a few feet in any direction before being consumed by murky cotton wadding that now binds all forms together. Streets driven thousands of times bear no resemblance to their former selves, transformed into stage sets for Gothic tales-or slasher flicks depending on one's age and taste."
pg. 45 "It just isn't a night for certainty."
pg. 105 (Holiday: Stanley Cup) "Working on this night, as with so many other festive nights, sets one necessarily apart from the masses. Climbing onto the bandwagon at this point would've been ludicrous in any case. Hockey just doesn't do a thing for me."
pg. 115 "Driving away, I think no apology for the human race would suffice to make this thing right."
pg. 119 "A woman weaves wildly in and out of traffic. The cat on her lap has two paws on the wheel. Not certain who's steering."
"A drunk girl staggers across the street and asks to be taken to the Hotel Allegory."
pg. 121 "We were only friends when she was into irony."
Dmitry explores all the unique people he meets in what seems like a typical week for him as well as a little about holidays and routine maintenance hell that cab drivers in Chicago have to put up with on a daily basis. I would have liked for a much longer read but this is a decent introduction that hopefully he will be able to write more about later. Even though he admits himself he gets only glimpses into random folk, it's usually enough and between Dmitry's drawings which even with some crudeness capture the essence of the lost souls he encounters and the wry sense of insight he has, he can tell a good story. Of course, this is one case where true life can be stranger than fiction.
Dmitry captures the essence of a variety of re-occurring themes here of class, racism, and the games people play with one another with a great wryness. I have a soft spot for him between twitter and seeing him at random indie band shows but my experience in general with cabs outside of him has not been great. Mainly, I experience them from the outside while riding my bike. They never pull over even when there is ample space and it causes dangerous congestion often. The passengers sometimes don't exit curbside like they are supposed to and I've nearly been doored by them. I also have never seen a cab driver ever signal to let me know he's ready to pull out or to pull over. I've even seen a cab driver hit a bicyclist while doing a spontaneous U-turn when he, not the bicyclist who was going through a green light at Milwaukee and Wood, was clearly in the wrong. (The cab driver pulled over and then argued with this bicyclist after he had hit him, which was so astounding considering the cab driver was CLEARLY in the wrong) So, when I read some of the criticisms of bicyclists, I had to remind myself Dmitry is dealing with the dumb messengers who don't look, weave in and out, and make everyone's driving and riding experience a perilous venture into traffic hell. At the same time, some balance to say not all bicyclists are like this would be preferable. Though, I have to say, most cab drivers I've run into are nothing like Dmitry either. I say this because doubtless all cab drivers have one story or another to tell but few go to the lengths Dmitry has to tell it and his experiences are definitely worth reading about.
Some favorite quotes:
pg. 22-23 "These people, and many others less memorable, serve as signposts all across this town. There's some kinship between them and the hacks who haunt these avenues; these forgotten shades serve as the only constant company on deserted streets at any hour of the day or night. Their presence reaffirms our own, while also reminding us of the merciless repetition of this work."
pg. 26 "If cars are fish, then city buses are the whales in the water of the thoroughfare."
pg. 37 "Vampire Hours: Hauling up and down empty avenues on winter weeknights can be its own kind of purgatory."
pg. 44 "Fog comes in and hides the skyscrapers just as the last of the graying milky daylight fades. Streetlamps light no more than a few feet in any direction before being consumed by murky cotton wadding that now binds all forms together. Streets driven thousands of times bear no resemblance to their former selves, transformed into stage sets for Gothic tales-or slasher flicks depending on one's age and taste."
pg. 45 "It just isn't a night for certainty."
pg. 105 (Holiday: Stanley Cup) "Working on this night, as with so many other festive nights, sets one necessarily apart from the masses. Climbing onto the bandwagon at this point would've been ludicrous in any case. Hockey just doesn't do a thing for me."
pg. 115 "Driving away, I think no apology for the human race would suffice to make this thing right."
pg. 119 "A woman weaves wildly in and out of traffic. The cat on her lap has two paws on the wheel. Not certain who's steering."
"A drunk girl staggers across the street and asks to be taken to the Hotel Allegory."
pg. 121 "We were only friends when she was into irony."
June 13, 2012
I stumbled upon this gem at a book fair and am so glad I picked it up. In thoughtful, observant prose, Dmitry Samarov recounts the monotony and absurdity of his job as a cab driver in Chicago. Samarov holds a degree from the Art Institute of Chicago, and his sketches of customers -- some far from flattering -- dot the pages of this slim gem. Like his drawings, the stories themselves are quick studies, but they manage to convey a breadth of human emotion and experience. Samarov describes drunks, PDA-obsessed young (and old) couples, deadbeats, drug dealers, and derelicts with the wary eye of a man who has to take whatever fare climbs into his backseat, no matter their physical or emotional state. But he also bears witness to unexpected moments of human connection and joy, when the tedium of scanning for the next raised hand or dealing with the labyrinthian policies of his cab company becomes almost worth it.
Samarov divides his book into days of the week (plus holidays) to give his readers a sense of the rhythm of a "typical" week. This stylistic device was effective; I truly felt like I was along for the ride. I was surprised by the number of hours he spends waiting -- waiting at the airport for his cue to be sent to the terminal, waiting in the wee hours of the morning for an available cab, waiting for his perennially crappy cab to be outfitted with a new air conditioner or control panel. Samarov reserves special vitriol for the incompetent folks working at the cab warehouse, for bus drivers in their hulking vehicles, and for bicyclists who flirt dangerously with cabs, buses, and traffic controls. However, Samarov's bitterness never overtakes the writing nor does it cast a cynical shadow on the book. Rather, he conveys the irritation that all of us experience to some degree while negotiating a city like Chicago.
And what a city it is. I loved reading about the neighborhoods and places I know -- though there were many that were new to me. I kept expecting to see myself or someone I knew in print. And while I didn't, I finished this book with a new respect for the hardworking cab drivers trolling the city streets, just trying to make a buck like the rest of us.
Samarov divides his book into days of the week (plus holidays) to give his readers a sense of the rhythm of a "typical" week. This stylistic device was effective; I truly felt like I was along for the ride. I was surprised by the number of hours he spends waiting -- waiting at the airport for his cue to be sent to the terminal, waiting in the wee hours of the morning for an available cab, waiting for his perennially crappy cab to be outfitted with a new air conditioner or control panel. Samarov reserves special vitriol for the incompetent folks working at the cab warehouse, for bus drivers in their hulking vehicles, and for bicyclists who flirt dangerously with cabs, buses, and traffic controls. However, Samarov's bitterness never overtakes the writing nor does it cast a cynical shadow on the book. Rather, he conveys the irritation that all of us experience to some degree while negotiating a city like Chicago.
And what a city it is. I loved reading about the neighborhoods and places I know -- though there were many that were new to me. I kept expecting to see myself or someone I knew in print. And while I didn't, I finished this book with a new respect for the hardworking cab drivers trolling the city streets, just trying to make a buck like the rest of us.
Read
December 31, 2011Amidst all of the blogs-turned-into-books floating around out there, Dmitry Samarov's Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab stands out as one of the best. Samarov, who has been driving a cab for nearly two decades, also spent time honing his artistic skills at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For some time, he's published a blog based on his experiences as a cabbie, and out of that comes Hack. Samarov takes the reader into the world of the cabbie, and with his true stories and illustrations, paints a portrait of Chicago life in all of its grit and glory. I appreciated the variety of Samarov's vignettes, which range from the mundane to the wild. The book's illustrations are an added plus that further enhance one's reading experience. Hack is a great choice for anyone curious about life as a cabbie, and for those who enjoy reading about Chicago.
(Karen, Reader's Services)
(Karen, Reader's Services)
November 10, 2012
"Now comes one of my favorite hours of the night--when drunks begin to discuss whether and to what extent they are indeed drunk."
I enjoy nonfiction books that offer a glimpse into other professions. Although I would be an awful cab driver, I really enjoyed reading about Samarov's experiences and looking at his art. This book could have been too scattershot, but its structure is appealing: Monday stories come first, then stories that happened midweek, then the outrageous weekend stories, and finally some holiday anecdotes. It gives you a sense of what a driver's life is like day to day.
I enjoy nonfiction books that offer a glimpse into other professions. Although I would be an awful cab driver, I really enjoyed reading about Samarov's experiences and looking at his art. This book could have been too scattershot, but its structure is appealing: Monday stories come first, then stories that happened midweek, then the outrageous weekend stories, and finally some holiday anecdotes. It gives you a sense of what a driver's life is like day to day.
January 11, 2012
The anecdotes in this book are so brief and disconnected that it was hard for me to get invested in it. Since developing the characters of his passengers wasn't really his agenda, I found myself wishing that the book had developed the character of Chicago as a city. But I didn't really get a sense of it beyond "generic metro area." The author didn't win me over as a character in his own right either--his tone too often struck me as snide. There are some interesting passages about the inner workings of the cab industry, but I don't think they outweigh the book's shortcomings.
December 9, 2013
I'm debating between 2 and 3 stars. I actually met Dmitry Samarov and he's an interesting guy who has interesting stories and perspectives. I enjoyed getting a different perspective on Chicago by reading Hack, and also really enjoyed the sketches included in the book. But, the writing just isn't that good. There are occasional sections that are really vivid and well-written, but they are few and far between. There are also some sweeping generalizations/comments that seem out of place.
January 5, 2012
Really enjoyed this peek into the life of a Chicago cab driver, both the characterization of the clients, and learning more about how the job works. Particularly interesting if you are local to Chicago. The drawings and paintings by the author make this little book that much more enjoyable. Will have to check out the blog!
April 11, 2012
Hack is a very interesting book of stories of a taxicab driver's adventures in Chicago. Arranged so each chapter is a day of the week, the author tells stories from picking up a cab from the dispatch to some of his late night pickups.
A really good book for the casual people watcher in a major metropolitan city like Chicago.
A really good book for the casual people watcher in a major metropolitan city like Chicago.
July 4, 2012
A2BC West selection for June-July 2012. A quick and enjoyable - but not memorable - read. My book club discussed it in less than 10 minutes, and most of our discussion focused on the author's negativity and the fact that a lot of people seem to take cabs to get drugs. We were all hoping for more of a love letter to Chicago.
June 25, 2012
Loved this book. Not a a solid narrative but a series of vignettes describing the passengers that the author has had in the backseat of his Chicago cab over the years. Think of each story as a artist's statement accompanying the many sketches and the book makes more sense. Also, an eye-opening look into life in the Chicago cab industry. Contingent labor at its finest. Oh, Brave New World.
October 1, 2012
As someone who took a cab to work in downtown Chicago Monday through Friday for ten years, I thoroughly enjoyed Samarovʾs candid and sometimes hilarious stories about his experience as a cab driver. Laced with his artwork in every chapter, the author enlightens us as to the inner-workings of the cab industry. "Hack" is an entertaining and insightful read.
March 31, 2014
This collection of blog entries is a short and interesting look at being a cabby in Chicago. It is an interesting world, part service, part slum, part personal attendant.
The writing was interesting, with great drawings to accentuate points. I liked the realism and the relaxed attitude presented.
The writing was interesting, with great drawings to accentuate points. I liked the realism and the relaxed attitude presented.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews