Customer Reviews

1001 Afternoons in Chicago

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Ben Hecht's 1,001 Afternoons in Chicago is easily one of the BEST books that I've ever read. It consists of 64 short journalistic pieces about the city of Chicago, written in the roaring 20's, accompained by beautiful noiresque drawings. He captures the essence of the city, that feels as vital today as it was in 1922 when it was originally published. Some of my favorite stories included a man who just escaped from jail and was hiding from the police, a woman obsessed with what her grave stone would look like after she died, and a chicago cop full of interesting tales on the job. This book is a must for anyone that is interested in journalism or just loves the city of Chicago. READ IT!!!

Bought this book because it lay in my parent's bookcase for 60 years unread. At age 70, or so, I thought I was old enough to read it. Ben Hecht is a great writer and he is entertaining. . .but, I think, somewhat dated. I have never been a great fan of 30s short stories or at least the writing style, and I can't tell you why. I'm about 40 pages into the book, maybe a little less, so everything I write should be rubbed with a grain of salt. Some of the stories were pretty interesting, but most of them have, by now, been done to death. I wouldn't discourage anybody from buying the book, though. It's very title suggest something wonderful: *1001 Afternoons* in Chicago now that really piques one's curiosity, doesn't it???

The main problem I have with this book is that the text is too small. I don't consider myself to have vision problems, yet I had to put the book very close to my eyes so that I could see all the words. Maybe it's intentionally tiny to reflect how stories were written back in 1921, but I don't think it was a good idea! There is enough space on every page for the text to be much larger, but the publishers made a wrong move keeping the font small.

Even if you can read the text, it doesn't mean it will hold your attention. In short, the book is an anthology, containing stories and images from 1921, and if you're not a fan of the writing style of the 1910s and 1920s, it is likely that you won't enjoy many of the stories. Yes, some of the stories are good anyway, but others will bore or confuse you since few readers are used to this kind of writing.

Some of the stories are pretty specific to a situation that can happen in Chicago, mentioning neighborhoods and other locations, along with descriptions of immigrant groups prevalent in the windy city. Other stories seem more generic that if you just change the street names, the story could pass off as one about New York or Minneapolis. But the black and white pictures are always interesting to look at. Basically, there are both good and bad attributes to this book, and if you can stand 1920s style writing, it's worth reading.

Ben Hecht's 1,001 Afternoons in Chicago is easily one of the BEST books that I've ever read its awesome dude