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‘Tis the season for giving, so I’m curious what books you plan to give and what you’d like to receive. Extra credit for Illinois books or authors.
(Suggested by a commenter.)
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 2:09 am
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Last year it was Robert Swierenga’s “Dutch Chicago”, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Dutch on the West and South sides of the city.
Especially the area around Austin Ave and Roosevelt Road near where I grew up.
PS. I’d like to accept that invite from you by the way. You never replied back on email.
Comment by Bill Baar Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 2:20 am
I didn’t get your e-mail, but I sent you another invite.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 2:25 am
The Book of Ralph: A Novel, by John McNally. From the Washington Post review:
“The South Side Chicago suburb that McNally describes mirrors his native Burbank, Ill. Chicago men of letters — both exalted (think Saul Bellow and The Adventures of Augie March) and underrated (Stuart Dybek and I Sailed with Magellan) — have frequently made the Second City their canvas, then daubed versions of their memories upon it. While Hank Boyd might evince some of the yin and yang of hard-won, proto-Midwestern common sense and derring-do found in Dybek’s characters, McNally nevertheless carves out his own turf.
The Chicago he paints has little to do with stockyards, far-flung adventures or lakeside trysts. McNally’s Chicago stars John Wayne Gacy and Styx, corrupt aging hippies and fake Jesuses, untouchable Catholic schoolgirls and tough Tootsie Roll-plant workers.”
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:22 am
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, author of “Angela’s Ashes” and “‘Tis”. A memoir of McCourt’s years of teaching at Stuyvesant High School in NY.
Comment by Reader Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 6:46 am
I’m not getting extra credit today, and it’s not political in any way, but if you ever get a chance to see this person or read about him. Wow….
No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life
By Kyle Maynard
The “kid” was born with his arms ending at his elbows and his legs at his knees. Growing up his parents treated him like the others in the family and he playes sports like other kids. Now he’s on the U of Georgia wrestling team. He’s an amzing young man and such an inspiration.
I’m buying it for my young wrestler and his two cousins, because they can use the lessons right now as teens to become better people. Plus, I want to read it. I’m in awe of this young man.
Comment by Tessa Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:05 am
I like to give (and read) those small books that zero in on the history of Chicago’s neighborhoods. Nice old photographs in them as well as interesting detail. We have several, but long for one to be written about the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago’s southside.
Comment by Diane Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:24 am
It’s so last year, but The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson was a good read. A non-fiction book set at the time of the Colombian Exposition, it tells the story of a serial killer and the work to bring (and build) the White City in Chicago.
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html
Comment by FlakCat Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:27 am
“Don’t Think of an Elephant” by George Lakoff,which is actually an interesting and quick read about framing issues, and why the conservatives have traditionally been better at it than have progressives.
And for even lighter reading, a book that I have been giving out for years is “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff, which does a unexpectedly admirable job of explaining taoist philosophy through an analysis of the stories of Winnie the Pooh. Don’t laugh, I have given out countless copies of the book,and every recipient has enjoyed it to no end.
Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:37 am
The new Lincoln book “team of rivals” by Doris Goodwin. Tells the story of Lincoln forming his cabinet with those individuals who were competing against him for the 1860 GOP nomination.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:40 am
I am giving “Tesla: Master of Lightning” by Margaret Cheney. It is the story of an eccentric genius, Nicola Tesla. It illuminates his life and grand achievements and his contribution to science.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 9:31 am
America: The Book by John Stewart.
Comment by JSM Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 9:55 am
I’ve read three of the books listed above this post — but all the others will be on MY list to read (some I might loan). Thanks to your participants for helping enlighten all of us.
Comment by Ed Murnane Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 10:28 am
I had glanced through Theodore Rex a few years back, but just finished reading the whole thing the other day. I recommend it and would like to get the first book in the series for Christmas. “Team of Rivals” and “The Most Exclusive Club” caught my eye at the bookstore the other day as well.
Comment by bomber91 Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 10:42 am
I’m reading Martin Gilbert’s Chruchill and America right now. Milt had Gilbert on his show a few weeks ago. There is a bit of a Chicago connection as Churchill would stay at McCormick’s place out in Wheaton and they named the bar after him. At least that’s what they told me on a tour a few years ago.
I wonder what Churchill and McCormick the isolationist talked about.
Comment by Bill Baar Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 10:52 am
Angels and Demons
I agree Tao of Pooh was a very good read.
Comment by Silas Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:00 am
If anyone would like to read a fictional but historical based account of Irish history, then I suggest you read the Trinity by Leon Uris. This is an outstanding look into the interactions of the church and the British government on the Irish Catholic peasantry.
Comment by Rep. Ed Sullivan Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:11 am
The Outfit by Gus Russo, an epic telling of the history of the mob in Chicago. It’s really good.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:17 am
Former Champaign Mayor Dan McCollum (and former Democratic State Senate Candidate) has an excellent history of Champaign County that came out earlier this year.
Comment by IlliniPundit Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:18 am
“Every Heart and Hand” by Pat Hickey
A history of Leo High School. A must for every Southside Irishman.
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:31 am
1776 by David McCullough. The country was almost still-born during this most pivotal year in our history. Our Founding Fathers were considered traitors by the British and had they lost would have been hung, drawn, and quartered.
It is also a good way to understand George Washington as a man with very human traits. Plus, there were many devoted other solders and officers that got short-shrifted in many histories of the revolution.
Comment by Nearly Normal Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:32 am
** “And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey,” by Studs Terkel
** “Challenging the Daley Machine: A Chicago Alderman’s Memoir,” by Leon Despres and Kenan Heise
** “American Pharoah: Mayor Richard J. Daley — His Battle for Chicago and the Nation,” by Cohen & Taylor
** “Chronicles, Vol. One,” by Bob Dylan
** “Dean and Me (A Love Story,” by Jerry Lewis
Comment by Marshall Rosenthal Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:49 am
Does Freakonomics count as being by an Illinois author? It’s by U of C professor Steven Levitt, who I had for a class last year. He was an amazing lecturer, and his was one of the few classes I actually enjoyed going to
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 12:15 pm
“King Leopold’s Ghost,” by Adam Hochschild: a readable account of Leopold II’s — King of the Belgians –- late nineteenth century acquisition of the Congo as a personal domain and the millions of deaths from forced labor that followed.
No, it’s not really Illinois related. Except that it may help us to keep local mismanagement and political chicanery in perspective.
Comment by Ivory-billed Woodpecker Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 12:46 pm
“The Coast of Chicago” by Stuart Dybek. Full of dream-like stories about the South Side of Chicago in the 50’s. Contains a must-read story for any White Sox fan.
Comment by steim Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 12:51 pm
I recommend a book by a friend, Jon Musgrave- Slaves, Salt, Sex & Mr. Crenshaw: The Real Story of the Old Slave House and America’s Reverse Underground R.R.
http://www.illinoishistory.com/oshbook.html
Comment by Steve Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 1:03 pm
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Not for everyone. A dark, intense and hard to put down story about one man’s attempt at recovery from substance abuse.
The Outfit by Gus Russo. Good history of the Chicago mob. Not sure if Russo is from here, but most of the characters are from Illinois and are quite recognizable.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Powerful, the next book you read after this will not have a chance.
Comment by Dave Neal Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 1:07 pm
“Chicago in Maps from 1612 to the Present ”
by Robert A. Holland
“1491 new Revelations of the Americas before
Columbus” by Charles C. Mann
“Mercy Falls” by William Kent Krueger (Simon &
Schuster) cop mystery set in the Boundary
Waters Wilderness Canoe Area in Nothern
Minnesota; he has written a few others with
the same sheriff as main character–all are
good
“Ordinary Heroes” by Scott Turow
Comment by Chicago Reader Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 1:54 pm
Not Illinois books but very good reads:
“Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival” by Dean King
“Back to the Front : An Accidental Historian Walks the Trenches of World War I” by Stephen O’Shea
“A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Dylan Thomas
“Letters from Father Christmas” by J. R. R. Tolkien
Comment by LikesToRead Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:01 pm
A Reporter’s Life- Walter Cronkite
Northern Protest- Jim Ralph
good reads
Comment by jay Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:19 pm
The Coast of Chicago is great. Two Illinois books I recommend:
William Cronon’s Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West shows how the growth of the city in the late nineteenth century was intertwined with the development of the railroads and the transformation of the surrounding countryside (extending beyond Illinois to the Great Plains) into commodities for trade in the city.
David Pellow’s Garbage Wars: The Struggle for Environmental Justice in Chicago puts Operation Silver Shovel into a larger context of waste management and inequality over the past century.
Comment by Abe Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:26 pm
The World is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman.
Then go out and get a Rosetta Stone course for Chinese. Just goes to show how woefully behind the tech infrastructure curve the US really is.
Comment by start learning chinese, quick Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:57 pm
Can I just say to everyone - Thank you. You are the reason I enjoy coming here so much. You have given me such insight and the books here today are some I want to seek out and read when I have time. I just enjoy getting to see others points of view and Rich giving us this opportunity is great.
Know it’s off topic, but Thank You.
Comment by Tessa Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 5:34 pm
[…] I wonder if I could somehow get a copy autographed to "IlliniPundit?" (Hat tip for Rich Miller for the topic idea.) […]
Pingback by IlliniPundit.com » Blog Archive » Champaign County History for Christmas Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 5:39 pm
I recommend it every year….Truman. Talk about a man put into a difficult position who defied expectations. Plus, it talks about that famous Tribune headline “Dewy Defeats Truman” so that’s an Illinois tie-in, right?
Comment by why Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:34 pm
The book “Leadership” written by Former NYC Mayor Rudy Guliani. Regardless if you like Guliani or not, it does show how politicans can run a productive government by using tactical planning rather than strategic planning.
Comment by MDPD 50 Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:49 pm
How To Survive A Robot Uprising
a book by Daniel H. Wilson
Comment by nate Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 9:03 pm
Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun
Third Edition
by David P. Clark and Lonnie D. Russell
(both from Southern Illinois University per the book)
P.S. Daniel Wilson (mentioned in an earlier posting) is Carnegie Mellon student and may not have an Illinois connection (not sure).
Comment by nate Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 9:07 pm
Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret.
What? I missed it the first time around.
Comment by Bacgiagalupe Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 10:02 pm
“Black Jack Logan: An Extraordinary Life in Peace and War” by Gary Ecelbarger. General John Logan was an Illinois congressman at the beginning of the Civil War; after the Battle of Bull run (wherein the congressman grabbed a spare musket and joined the Union troops into battle), Black Jack Logan was appointed by President Lincoln to the army as a “political general”. Logan became one of Sherman’s best generals in the western campaigns. After the war, Logan served in the U.S. Senate from Illinois for three terms and and was the Vice presidential candidate in 1884. Only his untimely death prevented him from being the Republican presidential candidate in 1888. Logan started the idea of “Memorial Day” shortly after the Civil War. Logan was a confidant of both Lincoln and Grant. This book deserves to be read by anyone interested in Illinois political history and the Civil War.
Comment by Bill Shepherd Wednesday, Dec 14, 05 @ 10:42 am