Chicago Stories: Tales of the City

by John Miller (Editor), Stuart Dybek (Introduction), Jane Addams (Contributor)

Hometown and host to talents as diverse as Richard Wright, David Mamet, Maya Angelou, Saul Bellow, and Mike Royko, Chicago boasts a rich tradition of writers who have helped shape our sense of the city even as the city informs their best work. It's "a writer's town . . . a fighter's town," according to Nelson Algren, and this anthology proves it. With a striking new cover, Chicago Stories collects the most evocative writing on the city, its gritty realism, and indomitable spirit.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1993

About the author

John Miller has edited a number of intriguing anthologies for Chronicle Books, including Lust and White Rabbit. He runs Big Fish Books, a packaging company in San Francisco.

Reviews

[JMM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictional pieces and essays centering around the World's Greatest City and written by the likes of Dreiser, Algren, and Lardner are enough to make a girl homesick.

[Tracy Towley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had 24$ to my name when I found this book and couldn't not buy it - even at 20$ (I got ripped, I know). I read the first story and I just couldn't leave that shitty over priced touristy store without that book. The stories were really hit and miss for me. My favorite was an excerpt from a letter that some random lady wrote to her sister after the Chicago fire. She was describing the neighborhoods that burned and it just blew my mind, my neighborhood being one of them. I was hoping when I started I could get this book for a ton of people for gifts but after having read it all I would only give a tepid recommendation.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far this is an impressive collection of stories about Chicago, "a writer's town and a fighter's town" according to Nelson Algren. From Dreiser to Mamet, this offers a wide spectrum of what and who Chicago is.

[Kevin Karpiak · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are better collections of Chicago literature out there. See Starkey & Guzman's majestic Smokestacks & Skyscrapers, for example.

[Noran Miss Pumkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this to my Husband, the first V-day we were dating. He never read much before, for enjoyment. i was giving him a gift a for each day of Valentine's Day--14 in all. This was one of them this is a great selection of stories, by some of the best Chicago writers that ever lived.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Saul Bellow's Waiting for Mr. Green.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was torn between "I liked it" and "It was ok" because I liked some of the pieces and thought some were ok but it's an interesting enough collection to earn 3 stars.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

All good stuff, but each piece is really just a taste of a larger work. A good starting point for other reading.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Looking For Mr. Green by Saul Bellow, The Gay Old Dog by Edna Ferber, and The Reunion by Maya Angelou.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

doesn't live up to the cover.

[Mary Chamberlain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seventeen short stories each written by a different author. Thumbs down!

[R.G. Ziemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of stories -- fiction, non-fiction, and even some poetry (represented by excerpts from Carl Sandburg and Nelson Algren's Chicago: City On the Make). Not what I was expecting from this 1993 publication. But they had me with the intro by one of my favorite writers, Stuart Dybek, himself a Chicago original (though unfortunately not otherwise represented in the book.) Can't complain about the inclusion of Saul Bellow, Langston Hughes, Ring Lardner, Mike Royko, THeodore Dreiser, James Farrell, David Mamet, Studs Turkel... YOu might gather that this is an eclectic bunch of writers spanning generations of Chicago prose. Many of the pieces are represented only by excerpts from their longer works, but I felt they gave a good sense of Chicago life and style. FOr non-natives it's not a bad introduction to some Chicago history, from Jane Addams early work with the immigrant community to Mayor Daley's repsonse to Yippie rebellion in 1968. Chicagoans will recognize the people and places, and probably have some mixed feelings at this portrayal of our gritty, dangerous, segregated city.

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of one or two page essays by the usual suspects and some surprise contributors. Each accompanied by an excellent black and white photo.

[Nausheen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If man is, or is searching to be, omnipotent, I am willing to accept Chicago’s gigantism; but I should like the opposite to be accepted as well: a city which would fit in the hollow of one’s hand."

[Jake Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I liked more of the stories. Tonally, it's 90% south side grit, which downplays Chicago's diversity.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve already read and own most of these, but it was nice seeing them all in one place, and reading them.