Day 109

And today I did a book review! Chicago Stories is awesome.

Jon Natzke

Book Review

Chicago Stories

Finally, a story collection you can snuggle up to with a plate of polish sausage and a can of Old Style. Chicago Stories is a bounty of all things Chicago, and weaves the tales of those who were close, those who passed through, and everyone who left a mark on the people of Chicago. But its not all nostalgia and remembrance, Michael Czyzniejewski has the uncanny ability to shape and remold the voices of his pieces to feel close to the reality of the narrators but also have the gift of wrapping them around his fiction, which is witty, fast, and personable to say the least. Each of the forty stories in a monologue or a long stretch of conversation that the speaker uses to drive a point home, each no longer fifteen hundred words, with many being crisp vignettes closer to seven hundred and fifty. None have the feeling of rushed scene, but instead have the beat of a fleeting moment, giving to us only what we need to well up with a certain emotion or thought, locking a solid image in our minds, before we float on to the next page to see who will be speaking to us next.

This is Czyzniejewski second book, his first Elephants in the Bedroom out in 2010 by Dzanc books, dealt with the same styles and tones, but dealt with more intimate natures, and now Chicago Stories is a abstract and experimental romp through the wide-eyes of famous, exclusively Chicago, icons. In “ Jane Byrne Discusses Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks With Her New Neighbors, Cabini-Green, 1981” we see the once renowned female mayor in a different light, speaking to us intimately about a father who lied and a family who believed him because that’s what you do. This story may be the only one not completely an anachronism, but it does not hurt any of the stories in any way. The characters are cut and pasted into contemporary or recent time lines in order to play with style, form, tone, and the most prevalent in all of the stories a head-down, buried sense of humor that at moments has you giggling to yourself on the L, trying not incite eye contact with woman next to you, and at other moments there is only a tickle that runs through you as you finish on the last sentence and reflect on the work. A particular favorite of this reviewer, which I would like to show a sample of was “The Water Tower Suffers Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. I don’t believe much accompaniment is needed to describe the piece with a title like that, but that is true of all of Czyzniejewski’s works, each setting a stage quickly and snappily to let you dive inside. But, I do not want to stray from my first point, there is a direction and emotion in “Water Tower” that sits differently than the rest of the titles, here’s chunk to see what I’m speaking of:

“Imagine everyone you’ve ever known, all your family and friends, dying in one fell swoop. Imagine their deaths coming quickly, one after another like dominos, but being horrible and excruciating, burning them alive in a wave of hysteria….Surely, you are thinking of the relief of being saved, the water finally winning out, your place in history secure: the lone survivor. I’ll bet you think I’m lucky. But then imagine the guilt. Imagine being the last one, carrying the burden of being spared.”

These sentiments are sharper than most of the washy literary fiction today and it is from the personal log of a building speaking of its past, which is revelation to this reviewer. As I spoke of before it was refreshing to have these bite-sized pieces of personal fiction that shined a light on all things famous to Chicago.

Now, I will say that Chicago Stories is something that may need acclimatization. Those without a tie to Chicago can still appreciate the fantastic use of styles and wit, but may need an easing, taking a few stories at a time, and mulling them over, as those from Chicago may gorge themselves on character after character like a Vienna beef ketchup-less hotdog. While the stories and styles may not be for the masses, the quirk has a charm that is undeniable and worth a solid look at. Chicago Stories is a title that I will remember fondly for quite some time.