Reading about Illinois

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Reading about Illinois

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1Morphidae
Modificato: Dic 9, 2006, 10:25 am

Here are some suggestions for Illinois:

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Pit by Frank Norris

Herzog by Saul Bellows

Books by Sara Paretsky

2HelloAnnie
Modificato: Dic 9, 2006, 10:44 am

Being from southern Illinois myself (across from St. Louis), I would love to see some books on the list that represent all of the state and not just Chicago. Too often the only thing associated with Illinois is Chicago, and that leaves out over 9 million other residents.

P.S. I love the idea of this group!

3Brian242
Dic 9, 2006, 11:15 am

I mentioned this one in the Chicago thread, but it is perhaps even more appropriate here. Spoon River Anthology is a true American masterpiece. It "takes place" in a small town in Illinois.

4fyrefly98
Dic 9, 2006, 12:32 pm

Chicago: Time Traveler's Wife is set in Chicago, and while it's not the focus of the story, it is relied upon and is also a pretty accurate portrayal.

Crossing California - I read earlier this year... it's set in Chicago in the late '70s (California is a street name in this case).

Non-Chicago: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.

I'm a Chicagoan at heart; I'm surprised I can't think of more books set there!

5HelloAnnie
Dic 9, 2006, 6:25 pm

Road to Perdition, which I haven't read, but might appeal to true crime readers.

Review:

In small-town Illinois, a loyal hitman is betrayed by his boss and he goes on a spree of revenge. The only thing is that he has his young son along (the rest of his family was murdered). Some historical figures such as Al Capone and Eliot Ness, already quite mythologized, are taken for another trip down fiction lane.

6radiantarchangelus
Dic 10, 2006, 1:53 pm

7lilithcat
Dic 10, 2006, 2:09 pm

One of my favorites is Tina L. Jens' The Blues Ain't Nothin', stories set in a haunted blues bar in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood.

8HelloAnnie
Dic 11, 2006, 2:11 pm

Another NON-CHICAGO Illinois read is Catch by Will Leitch which is a young adult novel set in Mattoon, Illinois.

10MrKris
Dic 11, 2006, 8:25 pm

Messaggio rimosso.

11Trainspotr Primo messaggio
Dic 14, 2006, 11:54 am

Richard Powers has several books which take place in Illinois, mostly outside of Chicago. Prisoner's Dilemma is set in DeKalb, Galatea 2.0 and Gain take place in Champaign.
And David Foster Wallace has a couple of essays in A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again which will get your head nodding if you've ever been to the State Fair or tried to play tennis on a windy day in Central Illinois.

12laytonwoman3rd
Modificato: Gen 10, 2007, 8:25 am

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell is about a murder on an lllinois farm in the 1920's.

13Illiniguy71 Primo messaggio
Gen 15, 2007, 8:15 pm

If I remember correctly, Gain is in the Peoria or East Peoria area rather than in Champaign.

14Seajack
Gen 25, 2007, 1:51 am

Another non-Chicagoland entry would be the "Dearest Dorothy" series by Charlene Baumbich set in fictious Partonville, IL located "... in the northern part of southern Illinois." In a later book, it's fixed at "an hour or so east of St. Louis" in one description. The books are classified as "inspirational", but the religion isn't too heavy-handed.

15BoundTogetherForGood
Gen 25, 2007, 10:46 am

WOW! GREAT THREAD!

Because of this thread I just ordered:
Spoon River Anthology (Signet Classics (Paperback))
and
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Author: Erik Larson

I REALLY enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife and have to add a few that are YA selections but worthy of your time in my opinion!

all written by Richard Peck
Long Way from Chicago
and its sequel A Year Down Yonder
and
Fair Weather

Ang

16GoofyOcean110
Feb 22, 2007, 10:23 pm

6: Devil in the White City is great! I enjoyed following both story lines... Though if it were fictional it would have been better for the story lines to connect more.

17Irisheyz77
Mar 20, 2007, 11:45 am

Jim Butcher writes a fanatasy series called The Dresden Files that takes place in an alternate Chicago (and some of its surroundings) where magic exists.

The series has also been made into a tv show recently on the sci-fi channel....but the books are a 100 times better.

18bookworm12
Apr 20, 2012, 9:01 am

There are so many great ones for Illinois! Chicago has a million options. Here's a bunch I found...

http://avidreader25.blogspot.com/2012/04/reading-states-illinois.html

19krolik
Apr 20, 2012, 9:52 am

I always think of Mark Costello's The Murphy Stories and Middle Murphy. Particularly the short story, "The Soybean Capital of the World."