The Mirage: A Tale of Cold Beer and Hot Graft, in which a Team of Investigative Reporters Ran a Chicago Tavern to Probe Corruption-and Pulled Off the Greatest Sting in the City's History

by Zay N. Smith, Pamela Zekman

Published two years after their award-winning newspaper series, this is the compelling, day-by-day account of two Sun-Times reporters who infiltrated the small businessman’s world to expose corruption within the Chicago government. Zekman and Smith bought The Mirage tavern, then sat back and recorded the parade of city inspectors, liquor vendors, tradesmen, and others with their sticky fingers extended. With evidence in hand, they shut down the bar and wrote a series of articles that have never been matched in intensity and long-term effect. The Mirage became synonymous with Chicago corruption. The journalistic accolades also flowed in, but the Zekman and Smith’s bid for the biggest—the Pulitzer Prize—was torpedoed, perhaps by jealous colleagues at another major metropolitan paper. This edition includes a new afterword by the authors.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this. The corruption was astounding, the reporting amazing, and the findings incredible. It almost makes me want to go undercover. I’m just glad I was able to get my hands on it finally!

[Casey Toner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Investigative journalism cannon. An essential Chicago story.

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing book about systemic corruption in Chicago. The Mirage was the perfect front, and a brilliant idea. Owned by the Chicago Sun-Times for four months and operated by a team of investigative reporters, the small tavern on the Near North Side provided a front row seat to the routine shakedowns, tax frauds and payoffs that had tangled City Hall in a web of corruption and graft for decades. The book is also, in some ways, a love letter to late 70s Chicago and the brazen characters that comprised the neighborhood tavern scene, and yes, that includes the cheats and crooks as well as the drunks and hookers. The Mirage is a great read, and a reminder that great journalism is a team sport that requires a serious level of dedication, time and resources.

[Llewellyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story. Small time graft and corruption may not seem that exciting, but this story uncovers just how immensely corrupt Chicago was. One really had to go out of their way to not be corrupt. The tavern they use sounds disgusting. And they uncover the lingua franca of how it all worked. Plus, there's some nice detail about what it's like to run a bar and the world of 70s journalism. Half the time they were more worried about other journalists sabotaging their work than anyone else catching on (ahh competitive journalism). There's not much insight or philosophy about why it's all like this, or what it all means, but that's journalism for you.

[BMR, LCSW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the bad old days of Crook County, Chicago made graft into high art.

This book is the story of the Chicago Sun-Times and their expose of January 1978 that led to numerous convictions and prison sentences for a few and a whole lot of headaches for many. The Sun-Times put up the money to buy a run down tavern, solely to document the bribes that greased the palms of inspectors, tradesmen, lawyers, accountants, and a host of other men. None of the bribed were women.

This book made me laugh out loud numerous times at the absurdity of the graft. It helped me understand the old Chicago Way better than anything else I've ever read about the history of the city. It also helped me understand why everyone was doing it, and why everyone put up with it. These weren't embezzlers of millions of dollars. These were 5 and 10 dollar "tips" that added up to a nice tax-free bonus for thousands of working class folks. It's no excuse, but it certainly makes sense at a micro level. It also doesn't excuse the men who were spending hours finding new ways to NOT do the jobs they were being paid for. Firefighters afraid of heights avoiding calls to fight fires. Inspectors who didn't even look at the things they were supposed to be "inspecting."

And then, there was the one straight cop who was stymied at every turn when he tried to take action against the corruption. He'd get a call from somebody to lay off an investigation, and that would be that.

Recommended for anyone who wants to understand how Chicago got its pay-to-play reputation.

[Mr. Sterner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This needs to be a movie.

A plucky young female reporter talks her newspaper into buying a bar to investigate rampant small-time corruption that business owners faced in Chicago.

This is one of those premises that if you heard it, you'd say it was too crazy to be true. But this is fact, not fiction.

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun.

[Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Wikipedia: The Mirage Tavern was a drinking establishment at 731 N. Wells St. in Chicago purchased by the Chicago Sun-Times in 1977 to investigate widespread allegations of official corruption and shakedowns visited on small businesses by city officials. The journalists used hidden cameras to help ensure that city inspectors caught accepting payoffs for ignoring safety hazards were all properly documented.
- and interesting read
- clear and straight-forward reporting