This book captures the reality of living in Berwyn and Cicero and celebrates the lives of the working-class members of society sometimes so easily overlooked and forgotten. It also explains why these individuals wanted to keep their small, close-knit communities from becoming like the old "changing" neighborhoods in the city of Chicago (which many of them fled). A tribute to the real "working class." It's a must for anyone who wants to delve into the lives of the butcher, baker and other entrepreneurs of a very special era in America's history. It will give you a much deeper appreciation of their struggles and fight to preserve what they built and loved.

Grew up in Cicero in the late 40's and early 50's. This will bring back many memories for you. Writing style is very smooth. You feel the author is just carrying on a converstion with you.

Blei captures the heart of family in his portrayal of second and third generation Bohemians living the hard, enriching life in Chicago. It's like poerty, the way Blei tells richness and complexity of family emotion and "communication".

If you like to drive, read this book. If you like nature, read this book. If you like to look at the pictures, read this book. This book and $20 for a tank of gas has become my favorite wedding/etc. present for friends. A wonderful coverage of the roads, the state they wind through and the minds of the authors and photojournalists.

Norbert Blei has been chronicling the landscape of such Midwester cities of Cicero and Chicago and the coutryside of Door County for years. In CHI TOWN he brings the reader home to a place that is solid and real. He fills the book with portraits of people and places, the scenes of Chicago with all the heartbreaking beauty and sorrow of a scene that is passing. Blei is the great nostalgist and he gives us full measure here. This book is a tribute to a city and its people and to an author who cares to put it down with love