LIT 50
Who really books in Chicago

TRIED AND TRUE
We can depend on these writers for landing on success with each and every effort. Whether it’s the tireless efforts of oral historian Studs Terkel, or the emotional poetics of Ana Castillo, Tried and True encompasses the stalwarts of Chicago’s literary scene.

Studs Terkel
The city's most famous living journalist, and one of the world’s greatest listeners turned 89 on May 16. We should all be half as busy and half as dedicated at his age, or at any age. A sensitive, keenly attuned witness to the American century, Studs Terkel has enlightened by bringing us the voices and visions of common citizens and famous figures. He works with the Chicago Historical Society now, archiving his more than 9,000 hours of taped interviews, and that work produced last year's “Spectator: Talk About Movies and Plays with the People Who Make Them” (New Press). The book came out in paper in March, and the next in the series, a gathering of his interviews with musicians tentatively titled “The Listener,” is in the works. Never one to rest on his laurels, Studs has just completed a new book of conversations "about people’s thoughts and inclinations regarding death–reincarnation, cremation and so on." “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith” is due from New Press in November.
Ranking: 2

Garry Wills
And in this corner, challenging reigning champion Studs Terkel for the double-barreled title of Busiest and Most Prolific Chicago Author Who Doesn’t Write Twee Romance Novels (sorry, Father Greeley), we have the Pulitzer Prize winner, Northwestern history professor and theologian Garry Wills. The word warrior weighs in with an impressive four books since last June (the self-explanatory titles "Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit" and “A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government," as well as paperback versions of previously published tomes); and he’s ready to come out swinging with August’s "Venice Lion City: The Religion of Empire" (Simon & Schuster), and "Augustine’s Childhood: Book One of the Testimony" (Viking) in June. Then, we suspect, he’s not going to Disney World.
Ranking: 5

E. Lynn Harris
E. Lynn Harris is a hit-maker. His stories of love and desire have found a loyal and growing audience, especially among African-American women, and are now steady performers near the top of both the Publishers Weekly and The New York Times bestseller lists. Last year's “Not A Day Goes By” (which comes out in paperback from Anchor this month) debuted at No. 1 on PW and at No. 2 on the NYT. It was the first of a series, and the second, “Any Way The Wind Blows” (due in July from Doubleday), is expected to make a similar splash. A black, gay writer who has little patience for labels and categories, Harris explores straight and gay cultures and the intersections between them with assurance and insight. He's written six novels now–"always trying to perfect my craft, to be a better writer," he says–and is beginning, like James Baldwin, to write both personal and political essays, including a recent piece on the shooting of Amadou Diallo. Is there pressure to produce commercially successful material? Sure, but Harris says the greatest pressure is the one he puts on himself, to "write what I write, whatever the topic, and do it well."
Ranking: 4

Ana Castillo
Like most overnight success stories, Ana Castillo has been producing smart, sensitive work for years. A daring explorer of emotional territory, Castillo is a Chicana poet who writes poems and stories beyond categorization, ambitiously mixing genres and subject matters. "Once, it was about ethnicity and race, later, also about gender, still later, sexuality," she says. And she's unapologetic about her grand artistic aims: "Now it is all of these things as well as making connections with the whole human family which we all are part of." Her latest collection of poems, “I Ask The Impossible” (Anchor), hit bookstores this spring. She's at work on a new novel called “Spirit, Sex, Eternal Love,” and is adapting 1999's popular “Peel My Love Like An Onion” for the stage.
Ranking: 41

Charlie Trotter
To be a celebrity chef these days is to also be a television personality, an author and a household name–and yeah, once in a while, you might even get to cook. For Charlie Trotter, transitioning from high-end foodie to purchasable commodity has been a piece of cake. From glossy, coffee-table fare like "Charlie Trotter's Desserts" (Ten Speed) to behind-the-scenes fun like "Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter" (on Ten Speed's thirtieth anniversary list of their favorite books), Trotter has posted more than a quarter million in sales, hacking out a path that other chefs are scrambling to follow. This year, Trotter upped his stock even more with "Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home" (Ten Speed), a kinder, simpler cookbook featuring recipes normal folks might actually be able to make. And Trotter's now carved out such a comfortable niche that he's able to offer aid to others–you can find him raving about Tetsuya Wakuda in the Australian chef's brand new philosophical treatise/biography/cookbook, "Tetsuya: Recipes from Australia's Most Acclaimed Chef" (Ten Speed).
Ranking: 8

Bill Zehme
Bio-whiz Bill Zehme may have hit a little early with the 1996 Regis Philbin bio, but his Andy Kaufman book, “Lost in the Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman” (Delacorte) couldn't have been timed better, coming out just as hype for the film "Man on the Moon" was at its strongest. Not one to miss his chance, Zehme went back to work with Regis, releasing "Who Wants to be Me?" (Hyperion) last fall, just as the Live One was becoming ubiquitous, and the book spent a couple of weeks on the The New York Times Bestseller List. A regular contributor to Esquire, Rolling Stone and other top-shelf mags, Zehme says Dial Press will publish a collection of his journalism later this year, with an intro penned by his pal Cameron Crowe. Sadly, the authorized Hugh Hefner bio has been put on hold, so what does the future hold for Mr. Zehme? "In terms of really big fish, I smell Johnny Carson in [the] air, somewhere in the distance." Weird, wild stuff.
Ranking: 10

Roger Ebert
While for many, Roger Ebert is only the older, larger, brighter, wittier counterpoint to yup-muppet Richard Roeper on the syndicated “Ebert & Roeper and the Movies” television show, he's also one of the city's under-appreciated literary powerhouses (and also, at the start of his career, the only winner of a Pulitzer Prize for film crit). His introduction to “For the Love of Mike: More of the Best of Mike Royko,” the second volume of Royko's collected columns, is a gem of anecdote and reflection. And at least one time out of four, Ebert's walk-the-talk reviews in the Sun-Times, collected in the annual "Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook" (Andrews McMeel) and online at www.suntimes.com/ebert, readily exhibit his too-little-heralded journo knack, which, if it isn't, ought to be taught in journalism schools. The youthful sidekick is coming out with his third book, "Hollywood Urban Legends," (New Page), which is three books more than Ebert's longtime partner Gene Siskel published solo during his career. Still, we'd rather thumb a fat, already-familiar volume of the elder blurbsman's thoughts than be stranded on even a traffic island with "He Rents/She Rents: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Women’s Films and Guy Movies."
Ranking: 11

Andrew Greeley
The priest, author and sociologist may not have sold more books than God, but it’s got to be close. Since the 1981 publication of "The Cardinal Sins," Andrew Greeley's novels have offered his unique combination of sex, relationships, the Irish, violence, religion and sex, translating into mega-sales–– upwards of 20 million in twenty-plus years of writing. At 73, Greeley is still on the road to publishing heaven, turning out at least two new hardcovers a year (this year saw publication of "Irish Love: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel" in February and "The Bishop and the Beggar Girl of St. Germain" (Forge) is forthcoming in July). With more than fifty books under his belt—thirty of them bestsellers—it’s obvious that someone up there likes Father Greeley.
Ranking: 6

Achy Obejas
An accomplished poet, novelist and journalist, Achy Obejas is one of those local figures who’s always on the go—whether writing for the Chicago Tribune (where she’s now a cultural writer), a host of national magazines (including Vogue and The Nation), or her own novels. The Havana-born author scored in 1996 with her first novel, “Memory Mambo” (Cleis Press), a sharply funny look at the life of a 25-year-old Cuban lesbian dealing with life, love, death—and American culture. Obejas hits the fast track this summer when her second novel, “Days of Awe” (due Aug 1), is published in hardcover by Ballantine Books. Keeping close to her roots, Obejas’ ambitious new story tackles a religious secret in a family of Cuban refugees who’ve settled in Chicago. And it’s a story the publisher obviously feels good about—Ballantine’s editorial director was impressed enough by the book to write an introductory letter to the advance copy praising it as a “novel of literary quality… a rich and engrossing book about the Cuban American experience.”
Ranking: 44

Hugh Holton
When Hugh Holton passed away from colon cancer at the age of 54 on May 21, Chicago lost one of its most honest writers. Holton, a thirty-two-year veteran of the Chicago Police and author of eight high-adventure cop thrillers, wore his influences on his sleeve. During nights and weekends, Holton dashed off writings in the fun, mile-a-minute, plot-heavy style of Clive Cussler and Lawrence Sanders. His work was not cut out for the National Book Awards and was never meant to be. Instead, his books were escapes; quicksilver reads that could turn lengthy red-eye flights into where-did-the-time-go events—page-turners in the very best sense. This year, he released “The Devil’s Shadow” (Forge), the latest “welcome addition to an entertaining series featuring predominantly black and always intriguing protagonists and villains,” said Publishers Weekly. PW also credited Holton with bolstering his last work with “an entertaining cast and solid grasp of police procedure…. [an] enjoyably old-fashioned tale.”
Ranking: 32

LIT 50
Who really books in Chicago

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