Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago (Crown Journeys)

The acclaimed author of There Are No Children Here takes us into the heart of Chicago by introducing us to some of the citys most interesting, if not always celebrated, people.

Chicago is one of Americas 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 Americas heart. Its a place, as one historian has said, of messy vitalities, a stew of contradictions: 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. Its probably why Alex Kotlowitz found comfort there. Hes drawn to people on the outside who are trying to clean upor at least make sense ofthe mess on the inside. Perspective doesnt come easy if youre 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 authors guides into this citysand in a broader sense, this countrysheart.