Chicago

Even though this reader lived in Chicago for just two (bless 'em) years, the city still has a magnetic hold on him.There is Marshall Fields and Soldier Field. Kup's Column and the Cubbies. Big Stan and Big John cut off at mid-section by low-hanging clouds. Mayor Washington scrapping it up with Fast Eddie Vrdoliak in city council. Lake effect snow. And those friendly, unreserved, Midwestern people speaking with a peculiar, broad accent to us transplanted, you talkin' to me-type Northeasterners.That's why "Chicago" is pure magic. All of the people, history, politics, and architecture are skillfully rolled into this slim and lively volume. Terkel catches Chicago's character and bottles it like no other chronicler could."Chicago" is also a freeze-frame, capturing a city whose edgy charm and sometimes gritty urban qualities are fading with the dawn of a new century. In this sense, the book is elegiac. Ronald Reagan, speaking in a public service message for the Chamber of Commerce years ago, said it was unfortunate that he had only a minute to talk about why he liked Chicago. So it is with this review. But you'll have more than a minute with your memories when you open this book.

This book is a treasure. Terkel tells the story of a Chicago that seems to be passing. The passing of Terkel's Chicago is not entirely a good thing--the mural artists people have forgotten, the Greek delis that have given way to Starbucks and the working stiffs that can't afford to live in the city anymore. The shared triumph of Joe Louis and the political rallies.People from Chicago should read this book and look at it from time to time to remind themselves about what makes Chicago the city that it is.