Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago (Irreverent Guides) [Paperback]

Elizabeth Canning Blackwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2004 | Series: Irreverent Guides (Book 3)

Looking for a travel guide that goes where other guides fear to tread? One that rides roughshod over ad-copy puffery to smartly deliver the real scoop on a destination's sites and attractions? One that dares to be honest, hip, and fun? Look no more. Frommer's Irreverent Travel Guides are wickedly irreverent, unabashedly honest, and downright hilarious, and provide an insider's perspective on which attractions are overrated tourist traps and which are the secret gems that locals love. You'll get the lowdown on restaurants, lodging, and shopping, and even find out what the locals think of you. "Like being taken around by a savvy local," said the New York Times. "Hipper and savvier than other guides," concurred Diversion magazine. Never shy about confronting the issues, the Irreverents are guides to real travel in the real world.

Chi-town has never seemed as vibrantly alive as it does in the pages of Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago, a book that tells the story of the real Chicago, from an insider's standpoint. With its muscular past and its bustling present, Chicago is a workable city of serendipitous surprises: the glorious vastness of Lake Michigan, the smooth jazz vibe, and the self-effacing Midwestern sensibility--it may be more Big Easy than the Big Easy. In Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago you get the straight scoop on all the places the locals love.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Full of solid, insider information with just the right amount of cynicism."
—Travel Savvy magazine

Are you tired of cliché-ridden guidebooks packed with promotional fluff? Then move over to the IRREVERENT GUIDES-the travel series that no tourist board would dare to recommend.

Look inside for the lowdown on:

• The best places to stay, from luxury to budget-conscious-plus where to avoid conventioneers
• Pizza that the locals line up for . . . even in the dead of winter
• The top sights for everyone, from art enthusiasts to talk-show junkies to nature lovers to Wrightophiles
• The best neighborhoods for unrepentant shopaholics
• Chicago's preeminent nightlife-from comedy clubs to the best local blues joints

About the Author

Elizabeth Canning Blackwell began life on the East Coast, but 4 years at Northwestern University transformed her into a Midwesterner. She has worked as a writer and editor at Encyclopedia Britannica, Northwestern University Medical School, the Chicago Tribune, and North Shore, a lifestyle magazine for the Chicago suburbs. She also has written for national magazines on everything from planning the perfect wedding to fighting a duel. She lives just outside the city with her husband, daughter, and an extensive collection of long underwear.

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 5 edition (October 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764573047
• ISBN-13: 978-0764573040
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,896,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to a *huge* city, August 23, 2001

By 

S. "mediaddict" (Jamaica Plain, Morocco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago (Irreverent Guides) (Paperback)

I spent my first 18 years around and in Chicago, so I was very curious to see what the Irreverent people suggested about my hometown of sorts. A word of warning... there is the usual quibble that applies to all of the irreverent books: they are more designed for reading a whole section at once, as the organization scatters litle info-nuggets about one particular place across a number of different sections. With that being said, the index in the back can guide you to the relevant pages for a specific place you are looking for.

All in all, I found this an incredibly fun and informative book that covers a large range of establishments and attractions in the few hundred pages it was given. It seems aimed at the younger or more adventurous traveler. Let's face it, almost everyone knows the Field Museum, the Art Institute, Brookfield Zoo, Sears Tower, etc. What this guide will help you do is find a great nightclub buried in the industrial district (Crobar), the surreal summer sports customs (16-inch softball!), the famous Frank Lloyd Wright architecture that is spattered around the city (Roble House), alternative shopping complexes (Belmont and Clark), where to grab a drink before a Cubs game (Cubby Bear), and famous local theater (Steppenwolf).

So if you are traveling to Chicago, and want to get a feel for the city that isn't completely upper-middle class and whitewashed (which the traditional Frommer's and such can fall prey to quite often), this book would be a great travel guide to help you out. It's even an interesting read for people living *in* Chicago, as there were a number of places in the book I was not familiar with which sound like quite a good time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not that irreverent..., January 8, 2007

By 

A. Reilly (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago (Irreverent Guides) (Paperback)

What I love most about the irreverent guides (I own the ones for Boston and for SF) is that they're straight forward, quick-witted, and give you very interesting tidbits about local history. It's like getting the inside scoop from your best friend vs the information kiosk.

So the fact that the sharp wit is missing from the Chicago guide is a nuisance. In fact, I really can't say it's irreverent or funny at all. Almost as if someone from Frommer's traditional guide staff -- or perhaps, an attendant at the information kiosk -- wrote it. The recommendations are good enough, but if you're looking for humor to go along with it, you won't find it here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars irreverent guide to chicago, June 30, 2002

By 

Sara Miles "sara_miles" (san antonio, texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago (Irreverent Guides) (Paperback)

disappointing to say the least - much of the book looked as if it had been recopied at kinko's. the maps were extremely hard to read - no color at all. i can't quite figure what's supposed to be irreverent in the book unless it's the fact that every so often the author says something less than favorable about a site or restaurant. save your money.