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“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 Never a City So Real.

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.

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, Never a City So Real is 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.”

New Stories from the Midwest presents a collection of stories that celebrate an American region too often ignored in discussions about distinctive regional literature. The editors solicited nominations from more than three hundred magazines, literary journals, and small presses, and narrowed the selection to nineteen authors comprising prize winners and new and established authors.

The stories, written by midwestern writers or focusing on the Midwest, demonstrate how the quality of fiction from and about the heart of the country rivals that of any other region.

The anthology includes an introduction from Lee Martin and short fiction by emerging and established writers such as Rosellen Brown, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Christie Hodgen, Gregory Blake Smith, and Benjamin Percy.

“Make your mark in New York and you are a made man,” wrote Mark Twain, encapsulating both the naked ambition of the city’s citizens and the opportunities up for grabs in the Big Apple. Others take a more cynical approach, calling the city “an aviary overstocked with jays” (O. Henry), a “sucked orange” (Ralph Waldo Emerson), or “fantastically charmless and elaborately dire” (Henry James). Over the last three-and-a-half centuries, this glamorous, twenty-four hour city has attracted a multitude of thinkers, poets, novelists and playwrights, many of whom have brilliantly encapsulated its unique spirit through verse, prose, or the ultimate wisecrack.

The North Shore leads you along the wild and beautiful 150-mile inland coast that stretches from Duluth to the Canadian border. It guides you through historic sites, wilderness trails, and the seven state parks you’ll find along the way. 

Read The North Shore as you plan your trip; then take it along and enjoy the milepost-by-milepost descriptions of Lake Superior’s scenic splendor. Fascinating details of the history, the people, and the events on the Shore offer you a multitude of options for making your trip more enjoyable.

The North Shore guides you to breathtaking vistas and exciting adventures. Explore river gorges and cascading waterfalls. Hike scenic wilderness trails. Experience four seasons of color and light. Ski miles of freshly groomed tracks. Fish Lake Superior and the tumbling streams that feed it. Explore pathways of early settlers.

The North Shore will help you plan adventures for all the seasons-from one-day excursions to two-week vacations. It’s a great gift for everyone who loves Minnesota’s favorite destination.

Shawn Perich is a free-lance writer who lives on the North Shore. His writing has been featured in numerous regional and national publications. He served as editor of the Cook County News-Herald in Grand Marais and as editor for Fins and Feathers magazine. Shawn and Vikki live in Hovland, Minnesota, on the edge of Lake Superior, with their yellow labrador, Casey.