Author Description

Chicago is a city of neighbourhoods. Yet scores of "windy city" travel guides ignore this reality and continue to walk down the same old centrally located thoroughfares, spotlighting the trendy restaurants, the pricey retail shops, and the tourist-trap museums. Finally, there's a Chicago guide that takes you off this tired path. Chicago writer Sam Weller shares his love and knowledge of his city, inviting you to explore all the unfamiliar treasures it has to offer. Organized by subject, Secret Chicago coaxes you down tree-canopied streets, into neighborhood taverns and hidden parks. "Secret Theater", for example, invites you into side-street store-front theaters where tiny production companies stage amazing plays on shoestring budgets. "Secret Bocce Ball" tells you where members of the local Italian community gather each night (appearing at sunset, like cowboys coming for a gunfight) to play this age-old sport. In "Secret Toll Booths" the author shares a little trick to save a whole lot of money while travelling the Chicago expressways. "Secret Hot Dogs" tells you where to get the freshest franks (no lie!) in the whole wide world. There are sections on the best 24-hour joints, super-hip dance clubs, and how to find the best, loudest, most distorted punk rock as well as the coolest niche bookstores. Secret Chicago speaks to the adventurous traveller, inviting them to explore the city behind the city.