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Crown Journeys Series
Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago
The acclaimed author of There Are No Children Here takes us into the heart of Chicago by introducing us to some of the city’s most interesting, if not always celebrated, people.
Chicago is one of America’s most iconic, historic, and fascinating cities, as well as a major travel destination. For Alex Kotlowitz, an accidental Chicagoan, it is the perfect perch from which to peer into America’s heart. It’s a place, as one historian has said, of “messy vitalities,” a stew of coarse yet gentle, idealistic yet restrained, grappling with its promise, alternately sure and unsure of itself.
Chicago, like America, is a kind of refuge for outsiders. It’s probably why Alex Kotlowitz found comfort there. He’s drawn to people on the outside who are trying to clean up—or at least make sense of—the mess on the inside. Perspective doesn’t come easy if you’re standing in the center. As with There Are No Children Here , Never a City So Real is not so much a tour of a place as a chronicle of its soul, its lifeblood. It is a tour of the people of Chicago, who have been the author’s guides into this city’s—and in a broader sense, this country’s—heart.
Chicago is one of America’s most iconic, historic, and fascinating cities, as well as a major travel destination. For Alex Kotlowitz, an accidental Chicagoan, it is the perfect perch from which to peer into America’s heart. It’s a place, as one historian has said, of “messy vitalities,” a stew of coarse yet gentle, idealistic yet restrained, grappling with its promise, alternately sure and unsure of itself.
Chicago, like America, is a kind of refuge for outsiders. It’s probably why Alex Kotlowitz found comfort there. He’s drawn to people on the outside who are trying to clean up—or at least make sense of—the mess on the inside. Perspective doesn’t come easy if you’re standing in the center. As with There Are No Children Here , Never a City So Real is not so much a tour of a place as a chronicle of its soul, its lifeblood. It is a tour of the people of Chicago, who have been the author’s guides into this city’s—and in a broader sense, this country’s—heart.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2004
30 people are currently reading
1376 people want to read
About the author
Alex Kotlowitz
18 books269 followersFROM HIS WEBSITE:
Between writing books on urban affairs and society, Alex Kotlowitz has contributed to "The New York Times Magazine", "The New Yorker" and public radio’s "This American Life". Over the past three years, he has produced three collections of personal narratives for Chicago Public Radio: "Stories of Home," "Love Stories" and "Stories of Money." Stories of Home was awarded a Peabody. He has served as a correspondant and writer for a "Frontline" documentary, "Let’s Get Married", as well as correspondant and writer for two pieces for PBS’s "Media Matters." His articles have also appeared in "The Washington Post," "The Chicago Tribune," "Rolling Stone," "The Atlantic" and "The New Republic." He is a writer-in-residence at Northwestern University where he teaches two courses every winter, and a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame as the Welch Chair in American Studies where he teaches one course every fall. He has also been a writer-in-residence at the University of Chicago. Kotlowitz regularly gives public lectures.
Kotlowitz grew up in New York City. His father, Robert, is the author of four novels and a memoir of World War II, "Before Their Time." His mother, Billie, who died in 1994, ran the Thematic Studies Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. His brother, Dan, is a professor of Theatrical Lighting Design at Dartmouth. Kotlowitz graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Ct..
His first journalism job – after a yearlong stint on an Oregon cattle ranch – was with a small alternative newsweekly in Lansing, Michigan. After a year there, he freelanced for five years, producing for "The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour" and reporting for NPR’s "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." From 1984 to 1993, he was a staff writer at "The Wall Street Journal," writing on urban affairs and social policy.
His journalism honors include the George Foster Peabody Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the George Polk Award. He is the recipient of three honorary degrees and the John LaFarge Memorial Award for Interracial Justice given by New York’s Catholic Interracial Council.
He currently lives with his family just outside Chicago.
Between writing books on urban affairs and society, Alex Kotlowitz has contributed to "The New York Times Magazine", "The New Yorker" and public radio’s "This American Life". Over the past three years, he has produced three collections of personal narratives for Chicago Public Radio: "Stories of Home," "Love Stories" and "Stories of Money." Stories of Home was awarded a Peabody. He has served as a correspondant and writer for a "Frontline" documentary, "Let’s Get Married", as well as correspondant and writer for two pieces for PBS’s "Media Matters." His articles have also appeared in "The Washington Post," "The Chicago Tribune," "Rolling Stone," "The Atlantic" and "The New Republic." He is a writer-in-residence at Northwestern University where he teaches two courses every winter, and a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame as the Welch Chair in American Studies where he teaches one course every fall. He has also been a writer-in-residence at the University of Chicago. Kotlowitz regularly gives public lectures.
Kotlowitz grew up in New York City. His father, Robert, is the author of four novels and a memoir of World War II, "Before Their Time." His mother, Billie, who died in 1994, ran the Thematic Studies Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. His brother, Dan, is a professor of Theatrical Lighting Design at Dartmouth. Kotlowitz graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Ct..
His first journalism job – after a yearlong stint on an Oregon cattle ranch – was with a small alternative newsweekly in Lansing, Michigan. After a year there, he freelanced for five years, producing for "The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour" and reporting for NPR’s "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." From 1984 to 1993, he was a staff writer at "The Wall Street Journal," writing on urban affairs and social policy.
His journalism honors include the George Foster Peabody Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the George Polk Award. He is the recipient of three honorary degrees and the John LaFarge Memorial Award for Interracial Justice given by New York’s Catholic Interracial Council.
He currently lives with his family just outside Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
January 16, 2010
kotlowitz illuminated many things about chicago history and politics, which i really appreciated, since it is all kinds of confusing for newcomers. and his profiles were funny and touching. however, the book felt uneven to me. or maybe unfocused? such a big subject. and even though his philosophy is that a city is the people in it, how do you choose among the many remarkable people in a city the size of chicago? i think this was the problem here. i found myself wondering why kotlowitz chose the people he did and what relationship they had to each other, other than being chicagoans. a narrower focus or a longer book of more in-depth profiles probably would of solved this. some of the profiles were just getting interesting when they ended, which made me mad. to paraphrase kenneth the page, i don't want to swear, but i am irritated right now.
January 13, 2022
I bought this book when I was in Chicago and have only now, two years later, gotten around to finishing it.
I wish I hadn't waited.
Kotlowitz is a master storyteller. These compact stories are not so much a celebration of Chicago the city, but of the human spirit that seems to bubble and churn in a never-ending frenzy of life that exists there. Kotlowitz' characterizations are careful and adept -- just human enough to convince you that you are learning about a real person (which, you are, to some extent), but also framed so beautifully as to invite the idea that perhaps each of these people and the vast cast of secondary characters who surround them, are themselves part of the exhibit.
Whether or not Kotlowitz' image of Chicago itself is true, I cannot say, but his celebration of the human, in all its complex and cloying aspects, left me warm and comforted in dark times.
I wish I hadn't waited.
Kotlowitz is a master storyteller. These compact stories are not so much a celebration of Chicago the city, but of the human spirit that seems to bubble and churn in a never-ending frenzy of life that exists there. Kotlowitz' characterizations are careful and adept -- just human enough to convince you that you are learning about a real person (which, you are, to some extent), but also framed so beautifully as to invite the idea that perhaps each of these people and the vast cast of secondary characters who surround them, are themselves part of the exhibit.
Whether or not Kotlowitz' image of Chicago itself is true, I cannot say, but his celebration of the human, in all its complex and cloying aspects, left me warm and comforted in dark times.
July 14, 2007
This book wasn't great but I liked learning about other neighborhoods in Chicago that I never make it too. I'd like to take a tour of the Pullman area and I learned of a restaurant on the west side I'd like to try. Cicero also sounds like a crazy place. The book was pretty light and probably not as memorable as "There are no Children Here" but it's still worth reading.
April 17, 2023
This reads like a love letter to Chicago and provides a journalistic capturing of the characters and places that make Chicago what it is. I listened via audiobook and wish I had pulled up a map to track the locations and help me visualize them a bit more. Overall, this contained a lot of interesting snippets of stories and snapshots into windows of Chicago.
September 12, 2009
The different stories in this book in no way hang together, and gave me only small glimpses into life in Chicago, but I enjoyed it enough to finish it.
January 3, 2025
I wanted to love this book, and there some parts that I certainly did love, but they were few and far between.
Kotlowitz paints a beautiful picture of the city at times. As a 10-year transplant resident who has now lived in 4 neighborhoods across the city, I appreciated those descriptions. But then he gets lost in the minutia of liquor store, cafe, and pawn shop conversations and vague sensationalizing of mob and gang violence. I was pretty disappointed in pretty much all of that.
I know this was written in 2004, a full 20 years ago, but to me even then it feels out of date. In a short book, he spends far too much time trying to show the city as it once was, and not much on what it actually IS. Many if not all of his subjects were in their 60s and 70s when he interviewed them. Sure, they saw the city change, but their perspectives don’t do much to show an outsider, or someone who has never been to Chicago, what the city is actually like to live in.
To me, this was two books in one. I would’ve loved a reflective “walk in Chicago,” but this was more like a “sit in Chicago” that delves way too much into personal details of rundown bar owners and the like — details that, while interesting, are barely Chicago-specific at best.
For as much as this book recommends and praises Algren’s City on the Make, I’d recommend just reading that. It is more clearheaded and comprehensive, and actually does a much better job of giving you a sense for everyday life in Chicago despite having been written several decades ago.
Kotlowitz paints a beautiful picture of the city at times. As a 10-year transplant resident who has now lived in 4 neighborhoods across the city, I appreciated those descriptions. But then he gets lost in the minutia of liquor store, cafe, and pawn shop conversations and vague sensationalizing of mob and gang violence. I was pretty disappointed in pretty much all of that.
I know this was written in 2004, a full 20 years ago, but to me even then it feels out of date. In a short book, he spends far too much time trying to show the city as it once was, and not much on what it actually IS. Many if not all of his subjects were in their 60s and 70s when he interviewed them. Sure, they saw the city change, but their perspectives don’t do much to show an outsider, or someone who has never been to Chicago, what the city is actually like to live in.
To me, this was two books in one. I would’ve loved a reflective “walk in Chicago,” but this was more like a “sit in Chicago” that delves way too much into personal details of rundown bar owners and the like — details that, while interesting, are barely Chicago-specific at best.
For as much as this book recommends and praises Algren’s City on the Make, I’d recommend just reading that. It is more clearheaded and comprehensive, and actually does a much better job of giving you a sense for everyday life in Chicago despite having been written several decades ago.
January 31, 2020
Reading this collection of stories/essays was like having an old friend tell stories.
I wish I had read this when it first came out as some of the characters (Ed Sadlowski, Robert Guinan) are now dead, and I can only think some of the locations are also gone.
I was pleased to see the shout out to John Conroy in the chapter "26th Street."
I wish I had read this when it first came out as some of the characters (Ed Sadlowski, Robert Guinan) are now dead, and I can only think some of the locations are also gone.
I was pleased to see the shout out to John Conroy in the chapter "26th Street."
Read
January 22, 2021Grit, which could mean either dirt or determination, is part of the Chicago mystique. Nelson Algren compared it to loving a woman with a broken nose. Kotlowitz consciously models his essays on Algren's "Chicago: City on the Make" but keeps it real, reminding us of our discomfort with the city's seedy past and needy present.
May 30, 2025
frustratingly short but very enjoyable. Memorable portraits of unusual and unknown contemporary Chicagoans.
August 23, 2014
This was a great listen. From Manny's to Edna's to Betty Loren-Maltese ad the disaster that Cicero has always been. Luckily the Bud Billiken Parade went better in the year of this book than it did this year (there were killings, of course). And plaudits to his saluting Nelson Algren's great book, Chicago: City on the Make - a book I found sitting on my father's shelves a good number of years ago and loved at first sight.
Approaching the city from the South one day, after an architectural association had voted Chicago #1 (they're always doing that), he realized that Chicago is perpetually a city of change, especially architecturally. We are always tearing things down and building new things. Just as long as it never gets boring. Keep changing the skyline.
Highly recommended, but especially to Chicagoans and those who have visited.
Approaching the city from the South one day, after an architectural association had voted Chicago #1 (they're always doing that), he realized that Chicago is perpetually a city of change, especially architecturally. We are always tearing things down and building new things. Just as long as it never gets boring. Keep changing the skyline.
Highly recommended, but especially to Chicagoans and those who have visited.
February 14, 2008
This book is the anti-guide book to learning about Chicago. The neighborhoods and stories that the book discusses are the often overlooked, hidden tales. Despite having grown up near the city, I found it fascinating. The accounts are from people who had an impact on Chicago, its people and a few neighborhoods in various ways. The style of the book reveals intimate details that only a trustworthy author with a commitment to the Chicago and its people could garner. I am so glad that I could sit in on the conversations.
p.s. Really enjoyed the account from Albany Park which reminded me of the many ethnic markets that I have frequented there...for ex. Andy's Fruit Ranch with its many Milka chocolate products.
p.s. Really enjoyed the account from Albany Park which reminded me of the many ethnic markets that I have frequented there...for ex. Andy's Fruit Ranch with its many Milka chocolate products.
May 23, 2009
As far as city guides go, I can't say I'm that big into them. Most of the time, I'd rather just explore on my own, make my own mistakes, that sort of thing. I'd read another one in this series (Chuck Palahniuk's Portland) prior to reading this one. I know I shouldn't compare because the entire series is based on the idea that every author write about his own city in his own way, but...
Alex > Chuck.
That's it. Hands down winner. Kotlowitz wrote with much more passion, much more involvement in the city. He wrote about specific people who lived and breathed parts of Chicago, and thus doing, wrote about Chicago's incredible diversity -- while throwing in some little tidbits of great old-timey joints.
Alex > Chuck.
That's it. Hands down winner. Kotlowitz wrote with much more passion, much more involvement in the city. He wrote about specific people who lived and breathed parts of Chicago, and thus doing, wrote about Chicago's incredible diversity -- while throwing in some little tidbits of great old-timey joints.
January 6, 2018
Yup, Kotlowitz is one of my favorite authors. Right up there with Patti Smith. A story about people and the place they live. Not about a place and the people living there. Kotolwitz writes of people that on some level are heroes. Because they stay, because they change with the times, because they do not let their surrounding define them. A lovely read that captures some of what makes Chicago so wonderful and multilayered. A definite recommendation to friends. And as a fellow Oak Parker, I am happy that he left OP out of the mix - I think that would have been too cliche - but so happy that Cicero was included. Alex, any chance you'll be writing about other Chicago neighborhoods anytime soon? It's been a few years, ya know.....
April 12, 2008
This book is so Chicago. Just like the city, it's fun, quirky, and diverse. The author clearly loves the grittier side of Chicago. The ritzier, Gold Coast/River North/Lincoln Park crowd is totally absent – which is fine. The father-in-law who improves a Gauguin by adding a cat and who fights for fair housing, the South Side painter who creates unofficial CHA murals of panthers, nudes, and Jesus, and the Vietnam vet who takes on Cicero corruption are so much more entertaining than any Lake Shore Drive socialite or CBOT trader. A fascinating quick read.
May 28, 2015
This book is part of a series of "A Walk Through . . ." Kotlowitz writes about Chicago. The other Walk-Through books feature places like Rome, Nantucket, even Portland, OR.
Kotlowitz takes the reader into parts of Chicago I'm sure I would never have gone on my own. The whole book is little close-up portraits of city personalities. He portrays artists whose work is ignored in their hometown, but loved in Paris; a woman who owns a diner; a pugnacious man who fights mob-controlled cronyism in the suburb of Cicero.
Kotlowitz's politics become obvious to the reader right away. He hails from people who enjoy a good sit-in or a nice brick-throwing union riot.
Kotlowitz takes the reader into parts of Chicago I'm sure I would never have gone on my own. The whole book is little close-up portraits of city personalities. He portrays artists whose work is ignored in their hometown, but loved in Paris; a woman who owns a diner; a pugnacious man who fights mob-controlled cronyism in the suburb of Cicero.
Kotlowitz's politics become obvious to the reader right away. He hails from people who enjoy a good sit-in or a nice brick-throwing union riot.
May 11, 2009
I admit - I went into reading this book looking to have my love for Chicago re-affirmed. I was not disappointed. Kotlowitz chooses a diverse set of stories for this book that provides a "real" (hence the title) depiction of the history and current life of the city. I especially loved that he includes Albany Park as the last chapter which is two blocks from where I grew up. I recommend this for all those Chicagoans out there or anyone wanting to learn more about the city.
January 16, 2008
Offers a look into some of the increasingly obscure areas of Chicago by recounting meetings with some of their most interesting (yet, common) residents.
Captures the working-man spirit of Chi and the melancholy that accompanies it's current disintegration.
Every Chicagoan ought to read this.
Captures the working-man spirit of Chi and the melancholy that accompanies it's current disintegration.
Every Chicagoan ought to read this.
April 12, 2008
I enjoy Kotlowitz's style of integrating background history into narrative. My only criticism of this book is that it is far too short to give a full sense of the city. He gives a disclaimer that it is of course not comprehensive, but I really don't see why he didn't add more vignettes. For someone who loves the city as he does, he certainly must have more tales to tell.
March 5, 2008
a great peek into parts of chicago that people don't usually see. at first i thought it was too short, but then realized that was part of the charm of it. i've always enjoyed kotlowitz's writing and this was no exception. i appreciate the way he is always working to give a voice to those that often would otherwise go unheard.
April 11, 2008
This book reminded me of a Studs Terkel book (I consider that to be a huge compliment) - I enjoyed peeking into the lives of the Chicagoans profiled in the book and was especially happy to see the section about Manny's. Some people went to really nice restaurants after the Illinois Bar swearing in ceremony -- my parents took me to Manny's.
November 1, 2009
I've lived in Chicago for a year now - I wouldn't have been ready to appreciate this book before now - but it's a wonderful set of stories about the political, racial, and economic realities of the city that are often hidden from clear view. A must-read for anyone who's moved to Chicago and finds themselves pondering its unique features.
January 28, 2010
An interesting twist - take some not so well know people who have influence Chicago and tell their stories. It takes you to corners of of city an tourist wouldn't except to go. I read it before visiting Chicago. Although it didn't change what I came to see, it did give me a feel for the city and it's diversity.
May 4, 2010
Just an awesome little non-fiction read that weaves through some of the more forgotten lives and neighborhoods of Chicago. Tells the story of a number of diverse people who have helped to create the ever changing fabric of a truly great city. Required reading for anyone who lives in Chicago or has ever visited and likely not strayed far from Downtown or Lincoln Park/Lakeview.
November 15, 2007
A quick read about a handful of Chicago neighborhoods and their residents. Kind of romanticizes the city too much. Some of my notions of the city were reinforced, but I was also surprised at times. The section on Cicero was probably the best.
January 3, 2008
I really liked this book. Kotlowitz tells the histories of various Chicago neighborhoods from the perspectives of some of their longtime residents. It's not preachy but illustrates that the city's history is more than just the Daleys and Marshall Field. Quick read too.
January 26, 2008
Profiles and stories about Chicagoan and the city they call home This book really helped me bond to the city while I was living there. Part of the "A Walk in ____" series, I would recommend the series to friends based on the strength of this one.
June 17, 2008
This was another great book by Alex Kotlowitz. It is much more uplifting than There Are No Children Here, while still real and gritty. I loved all of the individual stories, especially when I could relate to a certain neighborhood or group. Awesome book!
July 23, 2008
Quick read about random people in Chicago. I really wanted to like it, but I was only interested in the little historical tidbits about different neighborhoods and areas of the city. I guess I just don't like random people.
August 14, 2009
I read this after completing a summer of working "in the field" with kids in the My Chicago program. It was a good snapshot into some key people in certain neighborhoods but I wanted more of a taste of the neighborhood itself.
March 20, 2010
It was disappointing that this was an abridged audio version, I only saw it on the box once I'd checked it out from the library. Kotlowitz was not a bad reader and I would have happily listened to the whole book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews