{"product_id":"never-a-city-so-real-a-walk-in-chicago-9780226619019","title":"Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago","description":"\"Chicago is a tale of two cities,\" headlines declare. This narrative has been gaining steam alongside reports of growing economic divisions and diverging outlooks on the future of the city. Yet to keen observers of the Second City, this is nothing new. Those who truly know Chicago know that for decades--even centuries--the city has been defined by duality, possibly since the Great Fire scorched a visible line between the rubble and the saved. For writers like Alex Kotlowitz, the contradictions are what make Chicago. And it is these contradictions that form the heart of \u003ci\u003eNever a City So Real\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The book is a tour of the people of Chicago, those who have been Kotlowitz's guide into this city's - and by inference, this country's - heart. Chicago, after all, is America's city. Kotlowitz introduces us to the owner of a West Side soul food restaurant who believes in second chances, a steelworker turned history teacher, the \"Diego Rivera of the projects,\" and the lawyers and defendants who populate Chicago's Criminal Courts Building. These empathic, intimate stories chronicle the city's soul, its lifeblood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This new edition features a new afterword from the author, which examines the state of the city today as seen from the double-paned windows of a pawnshop. Ultimately, \u003ci\u003eNever a City So Real \u003c\/i\u003eis a love letter to Chicago, a place that Kotlowitz describes as \"a place that can tie me up in knots but a place that has been my muse, my friend, my joy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlex Kotlowitz\u003c\/b\u003e is the award-winning author of four books, including the national best-seller \u003ci\u003eThere Are No Children Here\u003c\/i\u003e, and, most recently, \u003ci\u003eAn American Summer\u003c\/i\u003e. His work has appeared in the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, in \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, and on \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e. He teaches at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50556016460050,"sku":"9780226619019","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7deded70-c329-441d-b64d-0f5992665348.jpg?v=1731746889","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/never-a-city-so-real-a-walk-in-chicago-9780226619019","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}