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"The best book ever written about an American city, by the best journalist of his time."—Jimmy Breslin.
"You'll laugh. You'll cry. Royko's genius is pure Chicago."-Ann
Landers
In 1999, the University of Chicago Press published a collection of
Mike Royko's columns entitled "One More Time: The Best of Mike
Royko," The response was immediate and overwhelming-readers almost
instantly began asking when a second volume of Royko's columns
would appear. With more than a hundred vintage Royko columns and a
foreword by Roger Ebert, this book is the answer.
Combining the incisive pen of a newspaperman and the
compassionate soul of a poet, Mike Royko became a Chicago
institution--in Jimmy Breslin's words, "the best journalist of his
time." "Early Royko: Up Against It in Chicago" will restore to
print the legendary columnist's earliest writings, which chronicle
1960s Chicago with the moral vision, ironic sense, and razor-sharp
voice that would remain Royko's trademark.
This collection of early columns from the "Chicago Daily News"
ranges from witty social commentary to politically astute satire.
Some of the pieces are falling-down funny and others are tenderly
nostalgic, but all display Royko's unrivaled skill at using humor
to tell truth to power. From machine politicians and gangsters to
professional athletes, from well-heeled Chicagoans to down-and-out
hoodlums, no one escapes Royko's penetrating gaze--and resounding
judgment. "Early Royko "features a memorable collection of
characters, including such well-known figures as Hugh Hefner, Mayor
Richard J. Daley, and Dr. Martin Luther King. But these boldfaced
names are juxtaposed with Royko's beloved lesser knowns from the
streets of Chicago: Mrs. Peak, Sylvester "Two-Gun Pete" Washington,
and Fats Boylermaker, who gained fame for leaning against a corner
light pole from 2 a.m. Saturday until noon Sunday, when his
neighborhood tavern reopened for business.
Accompanied by a foreword from Rick Kogan, this new edition will
delight Royko's most ardent fans and capture the hearts of a new
generation of readers. As Kogan writes, "Early Royko" "will remind
us how a remarkable relationship began--Chicago and Royko, Royko
and Chicago--and how it endures."
For more than 30 years, Mike Royko was a part of the daily fabric
of Chicagoans’ lives, penning often humorous and always honest
columns first for the Chicago Daily News, then the Sun-Times, and
finally the Tribune. Culled from thousands of his Tribune columns
and edited by his son David Royko, this collection offers up his
best material from the last stage in his career, which was cut
short by his premature death in 1997.
Mike Royko wrote a daily column for nearly 35 years - at first for
the "Chicago Daily News", then the "Sun-Times", and finally the
"Tribune" - and his Pulitzer Prize-winning commentary was
syndicated in more than 600 newspapers nationwide. Pretension and
hypocrisy were his targets, and his well-aimed salvos, delivered
with blunt honesty and penetrating wit, w on him fans and foes
alike. This text collects the best of Royko's columns from his
career. Culled from 7500 columns and spanning four decades, from
his early days to his last dispatch, the writings in this
collection reflect a radically changing America as seen by a man
whose sense of justice and humour never faltered. Included in this
volume are columns such as: the stories of his childhood as
recollected by himself and his pal, "Slats" Grobnik; his modern-day
Christmas parable of Mary and Joseph looking for a room in Chicago;
"A Faceless Man's Plea," the tale of woe that in one day had
Richard Nixon publicly reversing the Veterans Administration; his
account of Frank Sinatra's threat to punch him in the eye; the
column he wrote about how his feet had always disappointed him; his
pieces on racism; and his amusing attacks on political correctness.
Putting each decade into perspective are introductions by Lois
Wille, Royko's friend and colleague at all three Chicago dailies.
In 1999, the University of Chicago Press published a collection of
Mike Royko's columns, entitled "One More Time: The Best of Mike
Royko." The response was immediate and overwhelming--readers almost
instantly began asking when the second volume of Royko columns
would appear. With more than a hundred vintage Royko columns and a
foreword by Roger Ebert, "For the Love of Mike" was the
answer.
Royko, a nationally syndicated Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote for
three major Chicago newspapers in the course of his 34 years as a
daily columnist. Chosen from more than 7,000 columns, "For the Love
of Mike" brings back more than a hundred vintage Royko pieces-most
of which have not appeared since their initial publication-for
readers across the country to enjoy. This second collection
includes Royko's riffs on the consequences of accepting a White
House dinner invitation (not surprisingly, he turned it down); his
explanation of the notorious Ex-Cub Factor in World Series play;
and his befuddlement at a private screening of "Beyond the Valley
of the Dolls," to which he was invited by his pal Ebert, the
screenplay's author. The new collection also illuminates Royko's
favorite themes, topics he returned to again and again: his
skewering of cultural trends, his love of Chicago, and his rage
against injustice. By turns acerbic, hilarious, and deeply moving,
Royko remains a writer of wit and passion who represents the best
of urban journalism.
"To read these columns again is to have Mike back again, nudging,
chuckling, wincing, deflating pomposity, sticking up for the little
guy, defending good ideas against small-minded people," writes
Roger Ebert in his foreword to the book. "For the Love of Mike"
does indeed bring Mike back again, and until a Chicago newspaper
takes up Ebert's suggestion that it begin reprinting each of
Royko's columns, one a day, this collection will more than satisfy
Royko's loyal readers.
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