Chicago: A Novel

You will love this book. Such warm hearted characters and a dog worth knowing, maybe the best dog ever in literature. This is the story of a young man's first job in the vibrant city of Chicago in the early 70's as he goes through the struggles of learning about his neighbors, his new job and the amazement of the ever exciting Windy City. I guarantee that you will be charmed by Brian Doyle's telling of this young man's discovery and the ensuing mystery surrounding the lives of his eccentric and mercurial neighbors. Mr. Doyle is known to me by his famous Oregonian novels but this is the one that best captures his brilliance as a writer. Too bad he died in May of this year; his passing is a great loss to American literature. I loved this book so much I sent it to some of my friends from high school in Mishawaka, Indiana. They will be more than thrilled by the mention of our home town at a White Sox game. A memorable book for all readers.

FYI: the dog mentioned on the back of the book plays a MAJOR role in the story (much larger than the blurb suggests). It creates a fantasy element to the book that's less interesting than the rest of the story

This book was a great little read,and reminded me of my first years away from home, in a new place, at a new job, and surrounded by new people. Brian's characters are interesting, many of them are fleeting by design and their nature, but his tales of Edward the dog with mysterious abilities were intriguing and lots of fun.His writing is always uplifting, yet there's a touch of melancholy here, as he settles in to his new life, and I cannot say anything further without spoiling the story.I loved his basketball segments, his roaming around Chicago with his shiny basketball as his trusted companion, and I felt connected to the characters he lived with in his very unusual building.The pace is casual but never boring.This guy really loved basketball, and it made me pre-order his book of basketball essays due out later this year, regrettably posthumously.I will miss his writing. His passing is a tremendous loss, not only to his many readers, but to his family, friends, and indeed, humanity. He was one of a kind.

A total surprise - the author's mastery and I mean MASTERY OF DESCRIPTIVE ENGLISH, especially in the style of paragraph after paragraph of details that never fail to grab the imagination is superb - the characters of the book were so intimately and insightfully drawn as to capture our attention and affection and concern to a remarkable degree. The addition of an educated Dog (without any explanation of how such a thing could happen) also fascinated me. But above all his detailed knowledge of the city of Chicago is mind blowing. Obviously, I loved the book. The only criticism is that you have to hang in there as the story line keeps moving and sometimes you get out of breath following it. Bishop Sylvester Ryan

This books will ring true and familiar to Chicago fans. But more importantly it introduced me to this wonderful author, Brian Doyle, who will really light up your life. I am not religious but Doyle writes of being a Christian in a way that is intriguing and enlightening.

I love Brian Doyle's writing style so I stuck with it even though it felt a little slow at times. I enjoyed the characters and their interpersonal relationships in this novel.I also enjoy the way he brings animals into his books and personifies them; they are often my favorite characters. I've read 3 books by Doyle and in all of them there is a lovely sense of community filled with eclectic, and often eccentric characters. Perhaps they are a bit romanticized (sometimes I want to live in his novels), but this type of reading is an escape for me so I don't mind. At times Chicago felt a little melancholy, but the richness of the characters kept me engaged. I have to be in the right mood for Doyle's books because they have a very poetic and lyrical flow that I'm not always in the right place for. When I am though, I thoroughly enjoy them.

Brian Doyle's CHICAGO is an amazing work. Not only does he reveal an older Chicago in all of its cultural glory, but Doyle creates an exquisite cast of characters who all share an apartment building. A very enjoyable read and full of great thoughts, lifetime knowledge, and city-based adventures.

For those who love Doyle, you will undoubtedly fall into this novel. A first-person tale immersed within Chicago, like his previous novels it has its wandering, semicolon-driven lists, its comfortable dose of magical realism with talking animals, and its guiding, historical muse [in this case, Abraham Lincoln, but not nearly as overt as in his previous works]. It is about place far more than plot, dialogue is sparse, and my guess is that anyone with an affinity or history in Chicago will soak the entire book up.However, I must admit that this was difficult for me to finish. I keep coming back to Doyle hoping for another "Mink River," and this was decidedly not "Mink River." The characters, while interesting, fail to come to life in the way that grips a reader. This combined with the disregard for plot leaves the reader plodding and strolling as one would through a book of essays or unrelated short stories. There is no central conflict or sense of urgency throughout the novel, and turning the page is a task more often than it is a treat.Yet the writing is phenomenal. As someone who enjoys freelance writing and teaches high school English, I can justify reading Doyle simply for the moments in which the sentences jump off the page and latch onto your eyes, begging for additional exploration and deeper contemplation. Though the book was difficult to finish, it is heavily-marked up with highlights and annotations. I am grateful once again for having experienced the language of this text, and that seems an appropriate note to end on.