Dave's Reviews > Chicago: A Novel

Mamet's latest work takes us back to Chicago during post-WWI prohibition. Mamet is primarily a playwright by profession and this work is all about capturing the authentic voices of newspapermen, gangsters, madams, and policemen. The focus, like in an Elmore Leonard novel, is on dialogue. You feel that you are in the next booth listening to a couple of guys shoot the bull or in the parlor overhearing conversations. What comes out of their mouths is not necessarily telling a story in order, but filled with jokes, good natured ribbing, raw language, and reminisces. It might take a little bit to get into this novel as it is structured so differently than other novels, but it brings the characters to life.

At its heart is the story of Mike Hodge, newspaperman, his history fighting in France, his romance with the Irish girl who works in the flower shop, his long conversations with the local madam whose coarse way of putting things zeroes in on reality, his curiosity about local beefs and who got shot for not making the vig, and his coming to terms with some of life's lemons, what's real, and what matters.

Than you to Harper Collins for providing a copy for review.