Chicago: City on the Make: 50th Anniversary Edition, Newly Annotated

by Nelson Algren

I generally mark everything I “consume” as being worth it, because if it wasn’t I wouldn’t finish it. That said, this was a tough one to swallow. Algren was clearly angry and bitter and seemed to have pretty much given up on Chicago by the time he wrote this. He spends most of the book detailing how clout, corruption, and greed have shaped the city from day one, but I couldn’t even understand a lot of it because at least every other sentence refers to some person, event, or scandal that might have been familiar to people in his time, or historians, but means nothing to me. Having the annotated version helped with this, but it was still slow reading.

On the other hand, Algren obviously loved the people of the city, although he might not have had much faith in their ability to ever make good. This is the essay where he gave us this immortal and beautiful line:

“Once you’ve come to be a part of this particular patch, you’ll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real.”

(This is the inspiration for the title of Never a City So Real.)

I enjoyed the stories of the wacky Chicago characters the best. Many of these are referred to only in passing by Algren, but are fully explained in the annotations. Just one tidbit: Streeterville is named after “Cap” Streeter, who parked his boat offshore and claimed a sort of island, which had been created by landfilling in the lake, as an independent province. He refused to pay taxes, and the city took him to court. There were also gun battles in the area as he held off law enforcement. Eventually, Chicago won, but a neighborhood near all these shenanigans still has Cap Streeter’s name.

Reading this has definitely led me to look at my new home differently. This city has a hell of a lot of heart . . . but how about a soul?

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The Recyclery
The Recyclery, a non-profit (501c3) collective, seeks to build community through the restoration of donated and discarded bicycles. With these bikes we offer a sustainable form of transportation at little to no cost. We wish to further open ourselves and our resources to the community at large with programs that teach bicycle maintenance, safety, and environmental awareness.

Working Bikes
Working Bikes is primarily volunteer-driven. Currently it receives no government or foundation money. All its operations are funded through the sale of bicycles at its storefront. Working Bikes uses that money to provide bicycles to charity organizations within Chicagoland and to ship bicycles to the Gulf Coast, Cuba, Guatemala, Ecuador, and many other places of need.

Easy Rider
Easy Rider Bike Shop was Established in 1974 and has serviced
thousands of customers. We sell new and used bikes and repair all makes. If you are looking to replace your old bike, come trade it in.

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that I complained about in this post and then felt better about in this one ? Well, she didn’t give me the job I interviewed for with her . . . but she gave me a great recommendation for another job in her department, and I got it, and it’s a perfect job for me! Pay is still crap, but hey, I’m a social worker. Today was my second day and I’m soooo excited! Yes!

_{and my nose ring is not an issue at all!}
Hooray for things sometimes turning out for the best!

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Now it’s construction summer! (Look, I made a Chicago joke! I’m a bona fide Chicagoan!)

So . . . spring turned out to be just as weird as fall. Almost no spring-like days; just a lot of ridiculously cold winter days giving way to really hot summer days. Chicago just doesn’t do transitions gracefully. A real change from the mountains of North Carolina, where the summer and winter were short and mild, and the spring and fall were long and lovely and pleasant. That sounds like a complaint, but I actually really like living somewhere that has extremes of weather again. People think I’m nuts, but I like the challenge, and the sense of adventure.

So . . . I’ve now completed 4 seasons in Chicago! And lived to tell the tale! Go me!!!

See more progress on: Survive my first Chicago spring