In 1921, Ben Hecht wrote a column for the "Chicago Daily News" that
his editor called "journalism extraordinary; journalism that
invaded the realm of literature." Hecht's collection of sixty-four
of these pieces, illustrated with striking pen drawings by Herman
Rosse, is a timeless caricature of urban American life in the jazz
age, updated with a new Introduction for the twenty-first century.
From the glittering opulence of Michigan Avenue to the darkest
ruminations of an escaped convict, from captains of industry to
immigrant day laborers, Hecht captures 1920s Chicago in all its
furor, intensity, and absurdity.
"The columns in "1,001 Afternoons in ""Chicago" are scruffy time
capsules of an earlier Chicago, an era that is long gone but still
recognizable to readers' imaginations. Michigan Avenue, Lake
Michigan, street names such as Dearborn and Adams and LaSalle and
Wabansia, places such as the Art Institute of Chicago--they're all
here, sprinkled amid Hecht's nervous little haikus of urban life.
He calls Chicago 'a razzle-dazzle of dreams, tragedies, fantasies,
' and his tales capture gorgeous scraps of it, vivid vignettes
starring businessmen and hobos and cops and socialites and
janitors. . . . Thanks to Hecht, the Chicago of 1922 and the
Chicago of 2009 bump into each other, shake hands, exchange
greetings. Then, this being Chicago, they go for a drink and talk
about old times. New ones too."--Julia Keller, "Chicago""
Tribune"
"The hardboiled audacity and wit that became Hecht's signature
as Hollywood's most celebrated screen-writer are conspicuous in
these vignettes. Most of them are comic and sardonic, some strike
muted tragic or somber atmospheric notes. . . . The best are
timeless character sketches that have taken on an added interest as
shards of social history."--L. S. Klepp, "Voice Literary
Supplement"
""
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