The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek

The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek is a wonderful collection of short stories.

Some of these appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, and three of the stories appeared in the O. Henry Prize story collections, including Hot Ice, which won the prize in 1985.

For me, every one is fascinating and touching—Nighthawks is especially haunting.

The stories feel autobiographical, childhood memories of growing up in Chicago - living in Mrs. Kubiac's building on Eighteenth Street, the kids he hung out with. There is a sense of wistful nostalgia; although things have moved on, there was a time when you walked the night streets in summer, hung out with your friends on days it was so hot people got a little crazy, and "tonight, a steady drizzle, streetlights smoldering in fog like funnels of light collecting rain."

A vignette in Nighthawks is titled Silhouettes. Silhouetted lovers camouflaged in the night, in the rain. Touching and nostalgic without being maudlin or too sentimental. The time of these stories has passed, but they live on the pages.

I found the writing exceptional, as if I were recalling memories I didn't have, feeling nostalgia for a place and time I wasn't in. If you like good writing, please check this book out. The blurb on the back says "he lets us see the unforeseen not by stratagem but by art. Dybek is a wonderful writer of wonderful stories."

I agree and can't recommend this highly enough.

Aside from the writing, for someone who appreciates the craft of books, there are features of my hardcover itself that are endearing: a Knopf publication with a classic design, its smaller size at 5.5" x 8" feels intimate in my hands. This is a keeper, with the slight impression of the cover art pressed into the pale grey board underneath the jacket. Just enough to run your fingers over. Such a treat for those who enjoy all aspects of a bound book.

And to cap it off, it's a copy signed by the author.

1990 / Hardcover / 173 pages