“A lively grab bag of essays, fiction and poetry that reads at times like a who’s who of contemporary Chicago writers/residents” (Chicago Tribune).

Chicago is a city built on meat, railroads, and steel, on opportunity and exploitation. But its identity has long involved so much more than manufacturing. Today, the city continues to lure new residents from around the world, and from across a region rocked by recession and deindustrialization.

Rust Belt Chicago collects essays, fiction, and poetry from more than fifty writers who speak directly to the concerns the city shares with the Midwest at large, and the elements that set it apart. With contributions from writers like Aleksandar Hemon, Kathleen Rooney, and Zoe Zolbrod, here you’ll find stories about:

Stories about:

• Buying Bread on Devon Street
• The Cantinas of Pilsen
• Bike commutes through the North Side
• Adventures on the El

Writing with affection, frustration, anger, and joy, the writers in this collection capture all the harmony and dissonance that define one cacophonous place.