mcfarlee's review against another edition
5.0
Highly enjoyable, especially for anyone with a fondness of Chicago. Full of interesting anecdotes and historical blurbs. A fun read.
alexone1's review against another edition
3.0
i think the first thing i have to say is boy oh boy this author has some big internalized homophobia/racism among other things that i generally disagree with him about.
but - it really is a love letter to chicago, about chicago. and im here for that. the book pulled me in because i thought it was going be a really interesting intersection of chicago history with bits of this mans life. turns out its primarily a memoir with chicago history sprinkled in.
its a dense book and it didnt hold my interest all the way throughout but i'm glad to have stumbled on it at the library (it was right next to the david sedaris book i was checking out and it opened by talking about the pride parade, so sure why not give it a shot).
but really, some of it is quite beautiful and did bring me to tears with how obvious it is that steinberg loves chicago, and thus reminds me how much i love chicago.
but - it really is a love letter to chicago, about chicago. and im here for that. the book pulled me in because i thought it was going be a really interesting intersection of chicago history with bits of this mans life. turns out its primarily a memoir with chicago history sprinkled in.
its a dense book and it didnt hold my interest all the way throughout but i'm glad to have stumbled on it at the library (it was right next to the david sedaris book i was checking out and it opened by talking about the pride parade, so sure why not give it a shot).
but really, some of it is quite beautiful and did bring me to tears with how obvious it is that steinberg loves chicago, and thus reminds me how much i love chicago.
kiminohon's review against another edition
2.0
Steinberg is an excellent writer and--especially as a recent transplant to the city--I really enjoyed his descriptions of Chicago and what it means to be a "Chicagoan." However, I did not realize that this book would be more of a memoir of the author instead of a cultural history of the city. I wouldn't have minded a memoir so much if Steinberg just weren't so unlikable. Maybe it's just his writing style but he comes off as very pompous and arrogant and I found it off-putting and almost didn't finish the book because of his many "humble-brags" ... or just outright brags. He also spends too much time trying to justify using his Chicago connections to get his brother a job with Cook County. He uses that experience to almost justify all the nepotism and cronyism in Chicago. ugh.
There are some lovely passages about the city and about what makes living in Chicago so wonderful. It was interesting to pair this book with "The Third Coast" by Thomas Dyja: Steinberg's book being more of a fluffy love letter to Chicago and Dyja's being a more scholarly cultural history of the city.
There are some lovely passages about the city and about what makes living in Chicago so wonderful. It was interesting to pair this book with "The Third Coast" by Thomas Dyja: Steinberg's book being more of a fluffy love letter to Chicago and Dyja's being a more scholarly cultural history of the city.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
2.0
The tale of a reporter's time in modern Chicago, with nuggets of history about the city's birth and development. I loved the insider look into Chicago politics, but there's a strange amount of time spent defending the author's choices, not least in helping his brother get a job.
aydotjaydot's review against another edition
1.0
It got better towards the end, but. Meh. I just really didn't enjoy this meditation.
More...