We asked readers what book changed the way they think about Chicago. Here’s what you told us, lightly edited for clarity:
“‘Division Street’ by Studs Terkel opened my eyes to the great variety of people living in Chicago.”
— Don Hedeker
“‘City of the Century’ by Donald L. Miller made clear that Chicago’s 19th century growth was beyond belief: a population of 200 people [in 1832] to 1 million in 1890.”
— Craig Barner
“‘The Death and Life of the Great Lakes’ by Dan Egan was a summer selection for my Rogers Park book club. Living so close to Lake Michigan all my life, I’ve always known it was a treasure. This book put the value and fragility of this awesome resource in perspective.”
— Anne Halston
“‘Boss’ by Mike Royko. While I was in high school, I read his column regularly, but reading that book while in college put a lot of the snippets together.”
— Christopher Rosecrants
“‘Chicago and Its Suburbs’ by Everett Chamberlin. It is from 1874 and gives a great description of the city and suburbs. It even includes areas like Schaumburg and Roselle. It shows … that the whole way the city and suburbs are today diametrically opposed to each other was almost nonexistent at that time.”
— Robert Haugland
“‘Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago’ by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman. … [I] grew up fairly sheltered and privileged in the suburbs, and this book really helped me understand the legacy of discrimination in Chicago.”
— Steph Gladstein
“‘Forever Open, Clear, and Free’ by Lois Wille’ focuses on the battle for the open lakefront. You’ll come away knowing Montgomery Ward is a hero we should thank endlessly … and how lucky we are to have our beautiful front yard.”
— Susan Swann
“‘The Devil in the White City’ [by Erik Larson] changed my view of Chicago. … I had no idea of this lurid past.”
— Egle Krosniunas
“Reading Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’ in high school was a real wake-up call to adulthood and reality.”
— Dave Kraft
“‘The Chicago Anti-Vietnam War Movement’ by Bradford Lyttle … revealed to me that Chicago’s anti-war movement was just as active and fighting for social justice as many of the more well-known movements in the country.”
— Claire Boyle, Oswego