Larry Lamovec

John McNally is kind of like deep-dish pizza. He's one of the best things Chicago has to offer--at least when it comes to local authors. He has a fresh case of jet lag, a belly full of pizza, and a few sips of Bud Light in him as he discusses his first novel, "The Book of Ralph," his follow-up to his 2000 short-story collection ("Troublemakers"), published by Free Press.

"It's about two adolescent boys," he explains. "One of whom is trying to stay on one side of the fence, and one of whom is on the other side of the fence. A lot of it has to do with a certain type of inevitability." Set in late seventies Chicago on the Southwest Side and in the nearby suburb of Burbank, eighth grader Hank is the good kid who likes hanging out with the bad kid, Ralph, who wants to break out of the South Side mold that he sees in all the delinquents around him. "What kind of person is Ralph going to end up being?" McNally asks.

McNally, much like Hank's character, got out of the Southwest Side right after high school. He now teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, and also spends time in Hollywood pitching screenplays. Even early on he had dreams of doing more than just lurking around suburban Burbank. "I actually wrote a book-length manuscript in eighth grade, and began sending out query letters to publishers," he chuckles. He's come a long way since then, with an upcoming write-up in People magazine. "It's a long process. Everybody I know who's made it, they write constantly and they're not bogged down by rejection. I've written three unpublished books, and I've had some stories rejected fifty or sixty times. The only common denominator that I've seen [in successful writers] is perseverance."

(2004-03-18)

Also by Larry Lamovec

Something blues
Protesters and supporters of same-sex marriage are huddled on opposite sides of Clark Street outside of City Hall at the same doorway the Blues Brothers scrambled through more than twenty years ago
(2004-03-10)

'Ski lift
On the fourth floor of the Nordstrom building, right across from Tuscany café, Fluky's hotdog stand is giving out free Polish sausages
(2004-03-03)

Queer eye for the bride
People smile and hug as they ascend the second floor of Ann Sather's restaurant for the forum discussion on gay marriage
(2004-02-11)

No bull
He runs up and down the court, stomps his foot to the DE-FENSE chant, and pounds his claw in the air...
(2004-01-28)

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