The Coast of Chicago [Hardcover]

Stuart Dybek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 1990

Set in a solid urban landscape that may turn dreamlike in the blink of an eye, these stories balance homely detail and heartbreakingly familiar voices with heroic leaps of imagination. "Moving and real and often brilliantly ambitious."--The Los Angeles Times. Reading tour.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dybek ( Childhood and Other Neighborhoods ) here evokes the bizarre mysteries of everyday life in Chicago's gritty ethnic enclaves, the territory of the 14 stories in his second collection. The author's memorable characters lead odd, fairy-tale existences. Marcy in "Chopin in Winter" returns home from college pregnant and disgraced, and plays her way through Chopin's piano oeuvre before moving without warning (her note reads simply "Ma, don't worry") to a black neighborhood on the city's South Side. In "Nighthawks," a suite of meditations on love and loss, Choco, a conga drummer, is led through the subways on a hauntingly surreal trip inspired by a vision of his dead girlfriend. Dybek's fiction is not without a comic edge: Ziggy Zilinski in "Blight" suffers from a recurring nightmare in which atomic bombs drop on Chicago when the White Sox win the pennant. A quote from the Spanish poet Antonio Machado provides the phantasmagoric book with an apt epigraph: "Out of the whole of memory, there's one thing worthwhile: the great gift of calling back dreams." Dybek has this exemplary gift.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Has claim to comparison with Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio and Joyce's Dubliners. . .Dybek's energetic prose produces dazzling effects." --Chicago Sun-Times

"Moving and real and often brilliantly ambitious." --Los Angeles Times

"A fictional world that is both ordinary and amazing." --The New York Times

"Irresistible...Mr. Dreiser, Mr. Farrell, Mr. Bellow, Mr. Algren, please say hello to Stuart Dybek. He’s one of yours." The Village Voice

"Establishes [Dybek] not merely as a talent but as a magician comparable to Eudora Welty and Joy Williams." --Chicago Tribune

"Tender and unforgiving...No matter where you grew up, after reading these stories you’ll have found the coast of Chicago" --San Francisco Chronicle

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 173 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (April 14, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394574494
• ISBN-13: 978-0394574493
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,159,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highest recommendation., July 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Coast of Chicago: Stories (Paperback)

Lovely stories that take place in the intersection of dream and waking life, stories you'll want to read again and again from one of the most original and lyrical writers working today.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Pet Milk' does a body good, July 10, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Palo Alto, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coast of Chicago: Stories (Paperback)

Stuart Dybek is truly a gifted writer. But moving beyond my humble opinion, this unique collection of short stories shines. Dybek's prose is haunting, his language at times startling and spare, at others languid and nearly musical. His characters are alive and absolutely believable in their mistakes and victories. Each story stands as a reflection on everyday beauty; Dybek that takes time to notice the details other authors overlook or dismiss as mundane. In 'The Coast of Chicago' Stuart Dybek has managed to do something quite rare in the all-too self-conscious realm of short story writing-- create stories that are rich yet still real without trying too hard to be so. Allow yourself to get sucked up into the twisting paths of his Chicago-- it's a journey you won't regret.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Capturing the essence of Chicago, March 23, 2004

By 

S. Calhoun "rhymeswithorange" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Coast of Chicago: Stories (Paperback)

It is only fitting that this collection of 14 short stories was chosen for the One Book - One Chicago program hosted by The Chicago Public Library this spring. What a better way to promote communal reading in Chicago than to sponsor a book about life in their own city. While reading each short story it is apparent that Stuart Dybek has an intimate knowledge of Chicago. He successfully uses his memories and fondness for the city from his childhood of growing up in the Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods during the mid-20th century. Each short story details with the passage of time and what it means to live in Chicago. A sense of place is an important factor running throughout each story and successfully unites each story into this collection. The story that resonates the most for me is "Chopin in Winter" about one boy who is immensely affected by an upstairs neighbor who plays the piano each night. The portrayal of the grandfather Dzia-Dzia and his relationship with the principle character are noteworthy and memorable. THE COAST OF CHICAGO is a wonderful collection of short stories that will remain in a special spot on my bookshelves for enjoyment for years to come. I love living in Chicago; and these stories resonated strongly with me. Highly recommended.