- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (4 Nov 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226317617
- ISBN-13: 978-0226317618
- Product Dimensions: 36.3 x 29 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,257,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Two remarkable facts lie at the heart of this beautiful and revelatory book: that the Chicagoan existed at all, and that its existence has been so completely forgotten. Nothing that I knew of Chicago's cultural life prepared me for Neil Harris's discovery of this wonderfully worldly magazine. And, like him, I cannot figure out why it disappeared from historical memory. We owe Harris great gratitude for resurrecting the Chicagoan for us. His commentary verifies his reputation as one of the most learned and insightful cultural historians at work today, and as an enviably graceful and lucid writer." - Carl Smith, author of The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City"
Product Description
While browsing the stacks of the Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago some years ago, noted historian Neil Harris made a surprising discovery: a group of nine plainly bound volumes whose unassuming spines bore the name "The Chicagoan". Pulling one down and leafing through its pages, Harris was startled to find it brimming with striking covers, fanciful art, witty cartoons, profiles of local personalities, and a whole range of incisive articles. He quickly realized that he had stumbled upon a Chicago counterpart to the New Yorker that mysteriously had slipped through the cracks of history and memory.Here Harris brings this lost magazine of the Jazz Age back to life. In its own words, the "Chicagoan" claimed to represent 'a cultural, civilized, and vibrant' city 'which needs make no obeisance to Park Avenue, Mayfair, or the Champs-Elysees.' Urbane in aspiration and first published just sixteen months after the 1925 appearance of the "New Yorker", it sought passionately to redeem the Windy City's unhappy reputation for organized crime, political mayhem, and industrial squalor by demonstrating the presence of style and sophistication in the Midwest. Harris' substantial introductory essay here sets the stage, exploring the ambitions, tastes, and prejudices of Chicagoans during the 1920s and '30s. The author then lets the "Chicagoan" speak for itself in lavish full-color segments that reproduce its many elements: from covers, cartoons, and editorials to reviews, features, and even one issue reprinted in its entirety.Recalling a vivid moment in the life of the Second City, the "Chicagoan" is a forgotten treasure, offered here for a whole new age to enjoy.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a huge book that so far I have had some difficulty in reading all that much of, you kind of have to have a support for it else you weary of holding it up! Splendid however in its detail and content complete with one whole edition, fabulous cartoons and covers and some fascinating articles.
Anyone interested in the jazz age in Chicago will find this an interesting tome and it can be picked at as a coffee table volume to end all volumes or read more enthusiastically as suits...
Having read about the New Yorker and occasionally perusing a copy on the local news stand, it seems the Chicagoan might best be read like the New Yorker in it's own town, place and time however since we are no longer able to achieve this, the editor/compiler and commentator has tried to do this for us and does I believe achieve this overall.
PS - I am not joking about the size and weight, mine arrived in Australia in its own Royal Mail Mail Bag (which are woven plastic blue now by the way!)
Anyone interested in the jazz age in Chicago will find this an interesting tome and it can be picked at as a coffee table volume to end all volumes or read more enthusiastically as suits...
Having read about the New Yorker and occasionally perusing a copy on the local news stand, it seems the Chicagoan might best be read like the New Yorker in it's own town, place and time however since we are no longer able to achieve this, the editor/compiler and commentator has tried to do this for us and does I believe achieve this overall.
PS - I am not joking about the size and weight, mine arrived in Australia in its own Royal Mail Mail Bag (which are woven plastic blue now by the way!)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Magnificent Volume About a Long Forgotten Magazine
4 Dec 2008
Format:Hardcover
The Chicagoan was a magazine that was inspired by the New Yorker and lasted 9 years 1926-1935. Its subsequent downfall from prominence to obscurity was so complete that there are only 2 known complete sets of the magazine. Additionally, all of the artists and writers who toiled for The Chicagoan wound up every bit as obscure as their magazine. Up until the publication of Neil Harris's 400 page book, the very existence of The Chicagoan was unknown even to historians of the Windy City.
Neil Harris has done a masterful job of both recounting the history of this splendid magazine as well as presenting examples of the art and writing that graced its pages. Hopefully, this will prove to be the start of a trend of exploring this magazine's history as well as the history of Jazz Age Chicago.
Neil Harris has done a masterful job of both recounting the history of this splendid magazine as well as presenting examples of the art and writing that graced its pages. Hopefully, this will prove to be the start of a trend of exploring this magazine's history as well as the history of Jazz Age Chicago.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Jazz Age Gem
1 Dec 2008
Format:Hardcover
Great graphics--in its day the magazine must have challenged the New Yorker neck-and-neck. Sparkles with the wit and zest of jazz age Chicago--featuring figures of the wanning Chicago Renaissance and the hectic nightlife and cultural scene of the naughty lady by the Lake in the late 1920s and early 1930s. A rescued gem that breathes life into the City's history. Marie J. Kuda
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A treasure trove of information about a lost era in Chicago
13 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a treat to read or to just leaf through. The reproductions of the pages of the Chicagoan are crisp and clear. It gives insight into what it might have been like to have lived in Chicago at the time in ways that probably no other book can give. While it can be a 'coffee table book,' it can also provide hours and hours of reading pleasure.
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