Great reading that provides a sense of the city, from the Traveler online Ultimate Travel Library
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Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware (2000)
This highly praised graphic novel covers four generations and a century of change in Chicago. “Captures urban isolation.”—Jessa Crispin, founder and editor, Bookslut.com.
The Coast of Chicago, by Stuart Dybek (1990)
Poetic short stories concerning immigrant characters on the gritty South Side.
The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson (2003)
Based on true events, the book tells the twin stories of Daniel Burnham, architect of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer, depicting the beauty and the horror of the city in the late 19th century.
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair (1906)
Socialist author exposes the working conditions in the Chicago stockyards. “It revealed the beaten-down underclass.”—Victoria Lautman, radio host, Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman.
The Man With the Golden Arm, by Nelson Algren (1949)
Drug addict Frankie Machine struggles to stay straight on Chicago’s mean streets. “There’s hardly any glamour to Chicago; Algren’s work reflects that.”—Jessa Crispin.
The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (2003)
Unusual love story about a man who time-travels to different periods in his own life. “Set in the Newberry Library, a quirky setting of Chicago for a fun book.”—Victoria Lautman.
