The Pig and the Skyscraper: Chicago: A History of Our Future (Paperback)

by Marco d'Eramo (Author), Mike Davis (Author), Graeme Thompson (Author) "You expect the city of Al Capone - but what you find are pleasant boulevards coursing up and down between the neoclassical buildings of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: railroad capitalism, wheel estate, lumber mines, New York, World War, University of Chicago (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In The Pig and the Skyscraper Chicago: A History of Our Future, Italian author and journalist Marco d'Eramo turns his gimlet eye on the Windy City's 170-year social geography. The first of d'Eramo's books to be translated into English (by Graeme Thomson), this gritty cultural criticism falls in line with City of Quartz by Mike Davis (who provides a foreword) as it pries open the history of the stockyards, Gold Coast skyscrapers, slaughterhouses, Miracle Mile mansions, the Cabrini-Green housing project, the Sears Tower, the Mafiosi and the inner-city gangs, the Mayors Daley, the police force, the unions, the Black Power movement and so on. Beginning with the railroads, which wiped out "entire herds of buffalo," made the city "black with coal dust" and called for the importation of hundreds of Chinese laborers, d'Eramo astutely traces Chicago's craggy sociopolitical continuum. Photos.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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

From Library Journal
Despite what the title may suggest, this book is not really about Chicago. Instead, it is a dark portrait of American capitalism and democracy. Readers looking for a fresh perspective on the Windy City might be disappointed that the author relates well-known examples from its past only to support more general arguments about the poor conditions of U.S. society and politics. Italian journalist and writer d'Eramo plays the familiar role of outside observer, making some compelling statements about race and class in America. Unfortunately, there are also many distracting overstatements and even misstatements, the most egregious of which is perhaps the assertion that the American system "guarantees everyone the right to happiness." Some of what d'Eramo says about the U.S. Census's handling of racial categories is also no longer true. Finally, the book seems a bit dated, as it was first published in Italian in 1995. Despite all the negativity dispersed throughout the chapters, d'Eramo ends on a positive note, describing a "moving sense of faith in the future" that came over him while attending a crowded Fourth of July fireworks display. For large social science collections. Andrew Brodie Smith, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lib., Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Verso; illustrated edition edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859844987
• ISBN-13: 978-1859844984
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #898,527 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially recommended reading for students of Urban Studies, May 6, 2002

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pig and the Skyscraper: Chicago: A History of Our Future (Hardcover)

Ably translated into English by Graeme Thomson, The Pig And The Skyscraper, Chicago: A History Of Our Future by Marco d'Eramo is a serious-minded and acutely insightful social analysis of Chicago as the penultimate example of the modern metropolis. From Chicago's humble origins to its towering rise in world prestige to the churning capitalism that keeps it running, The Pig and the Skyscraper looks closely at America's famous windy city and pulls no punches regarding the dark side of urban sprawl. A fascinating, in-depth account, The Pig And The Skyscraper is especially recommended reading for students of Urban Studies and the historical, contemporary, and future development of metropolitan Chicago.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Naked City, June 8, 2002

By	"rhodri20" (Chicago, IL-USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pig and the Skyscraper: Chicago: A History of Our Future (Hardcover)

Chicago as it is. The history of Capitalism and the history of American power have never been disected like this before. This is a good intro to those who are interested in cultural studies and their relevance to our every day lives. This is a superb work in the line of Braudel, Jared Diamond and Mike Davis.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worthless, January 11, 2006

By	V. Raghavan (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a worthless exploration of the city through the dubious analytic framework utilized by Mike Davis in "City of Quartz." What separates that book is Davis' intimate familiarity with Los Angeles as a lifelong resident. Whereas D'Eramo is an Italian who's polemic is as cliched as any other European assessment of America which comfortably embraces false stereotypes and broad generalizations about american urban culture. What mystifies me about these modern marxist urban theorists is they vilify modern american cities, yet ultimately believe that cities provide the best social mechanism for engineering their normative philosophies.
anyway, none of this is to imply that Chicago is immune from criticism. It is, as is any city. It's has a sordid history of racism, corruption, an dubious institutional choices. But any comprehensive analysis of Chicago that refuses to recognize Chicago's virtues or at least attempt to understand Chicago on Chicagoans terms is intellectually bankrupt and a worthless read. If you want great polemic pick up the works of the great chicago polemicists Algren and Royko, not the work of this Italian Huckster