Chicago Works: A New Collection of Chicago Authors' Best Stories

by Laurie Levy (Editor), William A. Daitchman (Illustrations), Laurie Levy (Editor)

"Composed of great stories by top Chicago authors, this anthology contains 21 short stories, each originally published in an internationally famous literary market. The themes of the stories cover everything Chicago—from its history and politics to its social structure—in a way that brings to life a vibrant and diverse city. The stories are set against backdrops as various as the local addresses of Lake Shore Drive, a city tenenment basement, and an affluent suburb, as well as national locales such as Iowa and Oklahoma City and international locales such as the Middle East and Europe. But whatever the stories’ settings, the writers have one thing in they all live and work in the Chicago area. With a foreword by Chicago’s mayor, Richard M. Daley, this collection demonstrates the extraordinary literary talent of Chicago. The 21 authors Aleksandar Hemon, Phyllis Moore, George Bailey, Patricia Lear, Jack Fuller, S. L. Wisenberg, Lowell B. Komie, Lois Hauselman, John Blades, Rosellen Brown, Marvin Green, Pat Rahmann, Richard Stern, Laurie Levy, David Michael Kaplan, Fran Podulka, Asa Baber, Katherine Shonk, James McManus, Achy Obejas, and Herb Jackson."

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2003

About the author

Laurie Levy is a Chicago author and journalist, whose grant in literature from the Illinois Arts Council helped enable her to travel to France and Italy to research Stendhal’s life. Born in Omaha and raised in Iowa and Arizona, she has contributed to major Chicago and national publications; published three books of nonfiction and a short story collection, The Inland Ladies; and edited two collections of fiction by Chicago authors. She has worked as a fashion editor, an international restaurant critic, a film critic, book reviewer, and travel writer and columnist, while publishing short stories in a wide variety of national literary magazines. Laurie is the mother of two and grandmother of three.

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good, some bad. Some stories were pretty entertaining. A number of them seemed dated, which was fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but enough to keep interest.

[Marcella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Stories from the collection:
* Between Stations (John Blades)
* Chicago is Good (Laurie Levy)
* The El (David Michael Kaplan)
* A Kill-Tale (Herb Jackson)

Great Stories from the Collection and Authors to look up:
* Big Pink and Little Minkie (Phyllis Moore)
* No Dice (Marvin Green)
* Chicago, in the Depths of Feeling (Richard Stern)

[thea maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

an excellent way to get a sense of this new city i am calling home