Nelson Algren's Chicago

by Arthur Shay

A collection of photographs depicts life on Chicago's west side between 1949 and mid-1960s

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1988

Reviews

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after reading The Man with the Golden Arm. Algren describes Frankie's apartment on the 1800 block of Division, near Wood Street, where I lived until I moved to California. For a few months in 2001 I worked at an old Polish bakery on that block of Division where we wrapped coffee cakes and pastries in white wax paper tied with string, boxed and weighed cookies, sold paczki, loaves of rye bread, and poppy seed rolls. I lived just south of Division between Damen and Ashland on and off for about 5 years and watched the neighborhood change a lot. Looking through this book and recognizing store fronts and street corners, bars and three flats, was a sentimental journey. I always wondered about the three story red brick building on the south side of Division, just around the corner from Rainbo. The storefront on the first floor has been vacant since the late 90s, which always seemed odd for such a beautiful building in the heart of the neighborhood.

[Riegs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art Shay, personal friend of Nelson Algren, assembles a gorgeous and honest set of photos of 1960s Chicago. You learn so much from these pictures.