Stuart dybek and thomas dyja are both awardwinning chicago born authors. Dybek is the recipient of many prizes and awards, including the penmalamud award, an arts. In chicago, where we lived, all the incompatible states of europe were pressed together down at the staticky right end of the dial. Stuart dybek is a masterful short story writer as well as poet. A childs collection of bottle caps becomes the tombstones of a graveyard. His works of fiction, including the short story collections childhood and other neighborhoods 1980 and the coast of. Following his renowned the coast of chicago and childhood, story writer stuart dybek returns with eleven masterful and masterfully linked stories about chicagos fabled and harrowing south side.
Dybek has also published two collections of poetry. His fiction includes childhood and other neighborhoods, the coast of chicago, i sailed with magellan, a novelinstories, paper lantern. As is typical of much of his work, dybek mixes realism with fantasy to create a specific sense of place. In the coast of chicago stuart dybek has managed to do something quite rare in the alltoo selfconscious realm of short story writing create stories that are rich yet still real without trying too hard to be so. Poet and fiction writer stuart dybek was born in 1942 and raised on the south side of chicago. A lowly rightfielders inexplicable death turns him into a martyr to baseball. I sailed with magellan, the coast of chicago, and childhood and other neighborhoods. Stuart dybek has published three short story collections. And yet when i began reading dybek, i couldnt shake the feeing that something different was going on. We close our week of stories from the coast of chicago with one of the collections best mind scrambles. Photo of stuart dybeks parents 1942 flat and the setting for chopin in winter, 1438 w. Stuart dybek is often mentioned in the same breath as saul bellow, nelson algren, sherwood andersenmale writers of a certain era who wrote realistic, placebased fiction.
Dybek is also a poet, which may account for the evocative imagery of the latter work, a. The coast of chicago and i sailed with magellan are both absolute must reads. The stolid landscape of chicago suddenly turns dreamlike and otherworldly in stuart dybeks classic story collection. Stuart dybeks story hot ice takes place in a changing workingclass neighborhood of chicago during the 1970s. At the time, his neighborhood was an ethnic neighborhood full of poles, ukranians, czechs, etc. Stuart dybek is the author of i sailed with magellan, the coast of chicago, and childhood and other neighborhoods. Dybek, a secondgeneration polish american, was born in chicago, illinois and raised in chicago s little village and pilsen neighborhoods in the 1950s and early 1960s. Grounded in the realities of ethnic life in chicago, dybek s second collection of stories children and other neighborhoods, 1980 transcends streetcorner sociology for an urban poetry of spirit and myth.
Aug 26, 2004 i read the coast of chicago by stuart dybek on the plane to london intermittently whenever the irritating family 2 rows ahead of me would momentarily quiet down. At the center of the story is an urban legend about a girl who was drowned in a lake in the nearby park decades earlier and then. Dybek has a quick sense of humor and an astute sense of humanity, which makes the comedy seem fittingly ironic. His collections of poetry include brass knuckles 1979 and streets in their own ink 2004. Following childhood and other neighborhoods, the coast of chicago is stuart dybek s second book of fiction. The coast of chicago find themselves to be, like their parents. Seven long stories are interleaved with seven shorter ones, and they are bound so tightly by place and. See all books authored by stuart dybek, including the scribner anthology of contemporary short fiction. Works by both men have been chosen for the great honor of being a one book, one chicago title. I read the coast of chicago by stuart dybek on the plane to london intermittently whenever the irritating family 2 rows ahead of me would momentarily quiet down. The narrator of one of stuart dybeks elegiac new stories goes to the art institute of chicago and stands before edward. Both i sailed with magellan and the coast of chicago were new york times notable books, and the coast of chicago was a one book one chicago selection. Dybek childhood and other neighborhoods here evokes the bizarre mysteries of everyday life in chicagos gritty ethnic enclaves, the territory of the 14 stories. Readers of literary magazines and anthologies frequently speak of stuart dybeks stories with reverence, and they will certainly covetthe coast of chicago, his second collection, which brings together several works already deemed classics.
Personally, i can think of no better way to present dybek s stories in this collection. Stuart dybek is the awardwinning author of childhood and other neighborhoods, i sailed with magellan, and brass knuckles, a volume of poetry. In stuart dybeks chicago, wonder lurks in unexpected placesin garbagestrewn alleys, gloomy basement apartments, abandoned rooms at the top of rickety stairs periodically rumbled by. The coast of chicago, alfred a knopf inc 9 copy quote. The coast of chicago by stuart dybek 2004, paperback for. Stuart dybek is the author of five books of fictionecstatic cahoots, paper lantern, i sailed with magellan, the coast of chicago, and childhood and other neighborhoodsas well as two collections of poetry, brass knuckles and streets in their own ink. She didnt seem to notice, as long as she wasnt hearing english. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the coast of chicago. Allow yourself to get sucked up into the twisting paths of his chicago its a journey you wont regret.
But we didnt, not in the moonlight, or by the phosphorescent. Share stuart dybek quotations about perspective and public libraries. Stuart dybek is the awardwinning author of i sailed with magellan, childhood and other neighborhoods, and brass knuckles, a volume of poetry. Dybek is the recipient of many prizes and awards, including the penmalamud award, an arts and letters award from the. Chicagos storyteller christopher borrelli the way stuart dybek tells it, on the night that he decided to become. He has an ma in literature from loyola university chicago. Chicagos storyteller christopher borrelli the way stuart dybek tells it, on the night that he decided to become a writer, the moon rose full and bright over lake michigan. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. They both entirely take place in chicago mostly the south side, but not. Personally, i can think of no better way to present dybeks stories in this collection. Stuart dybek was born in 1942 and raised in chicagos little village and pilsen neighborhoods in the 1950s and early 1960s. Transformed through the wide eyes of dybeks adolescent heroes, these grimy urban backwaters become exotic landscapes of fear. Today, the neighborhoods are mostly populated by mexican americans.
Most of the characters in the book still have customs coming from the old country, inherited prejudices. Following childhood and other neighborhoods, the coast of chicago is stuart dybeks second book of fiction. Childhood and other neighborhoods, the coast of chicago, and i sailed with magellan. There was a yellow plastic radio on her kitchen table, usually tuned to the polka station, though sometimes shed miss it by half a notch and get the greek station instead, or the spanish, or the ukrainian. Few writers have captured street life as movingly as dybek. The narrator of one of stuart dybek s elegiac new stories goes to the art institute of chicago and stands before edward.
A lowly rightfielders inexplicable death turns him. Rita of cascia high school in 1959 and earned an mfa from the iowa writers workshop at the university of iowa. In 2004, the coast of chicago was chosen for the citys one book, one chicago program, which encouraged not just students but all citizens to participate in a citywide discussion club about the book. Stuart dybek born april 10, 1942 is an american writer of fiction and poetry. Apr 03, 2004 the stolid landscape of chicago suddenly turns dreamlike and otherworldly in stuart dybek s classic story collection. United, they comprise the story of perry katzek and his widening, endearing clan. Ten years ago, stuart dybek published a collection of chicagoset stories, childhood and other neighborhoods, receiving for that achievement the 1981 pen hemingway award. Stuart dybek was born in 1942 and raised in chicago s little village and pilsen neighborhoods in the 1950s and early 1960s.
This is a muchloved scene from pet milk, a short story in stuart dybeks last book, the coast of chicago, and a moment exquisitely emblematic of dybeks stereoscopic vision of the citys. Strains of chopin floating down the tenement airshaft are transformed into a mysterious anthem of loss. Through these streets walk butchers, hitmen, mothers and factory workers, boys turned men and men. Dybek is also a poet, which may account for the evocative imagery of. Critics consider stuart dybek a master of the short story with such writers as ernest hemingway and sherwood anderson. Ten years ago, stuart dybek published a collection of chicago set stories, childhood and other neighborhoods, receiving for that achievement the 1981 pen hemingway award. Everything with dybek is about memory, and i cant think of a better example of the strange, interwoven nostalgia loops he attempts to craft.
Dybek s two collections of poems are brass knuckles 1979 and streets in their own ink 2004. The poet laureate of chicago is stuart dybek i mean, i dont think he actually is, i just think he should be. The coast of chicago by stuart dybek overdrive rakuten. Everything with dybek is about memory, and i cant think of a better example of the strange, interwoven nostalgia. Mar 12, 2020 combining homely detail and heartbreakingly familiar voices with grand leaps of imagination, the coast of chicago is a masterpiece from one of americas most highly regarded writers.
He attended loyola university in chicago and the iowa writers workshop. Newspapers and radio recounted the seiche of june 26, 1954, when a wave 25 miles wide and 10. Stuart dybek is the author of five books of fictionecstatic cahoots, paper lantern, i sailed with magellan, the coast of chicago, and childhood and other neighborhoodsas well as two collections of poetry, brass knuckles and streets in their own. In the coast of chicago, all the stories stand on their own but are. Stuart dybek at the wedding of his uncle moody and aunt olga. Stuart dybek books list of books by author stuart dybek. Stuart dybek and thomas dyja are both awardwinning chicagoborn authors. The qualities that distinguish his fictiona strong connection to place, particularly his native chicago, childhood nostalgia tinged with irony, a meandering narrative pace, and an ability to find beauty amid urban blightalso characterize much of his poetry. The coast of chicago download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
Fifty north american stories since 1970, and my mistresss sparrow is dead. Stuart dybek is the author of three books of fiction. Stuart dybek is often mentioned in the same breath as saul bellow, nelson algren, sherwood andersenmale writers of a certain era who wrote. Grounded in the realities of ethnic life in chicago, dybeks second collection of stories children and other neighborhoods, 1980 transcends streetcorner sociology for an urban poetry of spirit and myth.
A professor of english at western michigan university, he lives in kalamazoo. Most of the characters in the book still have customs coming from the old country, inherited prejudices, church going rituals, love for music, etc. Patrick points us to another, more contemporary literary lodestar for chicago. Great love stories, from chekhov to munro, and more on. The coast of chicago paperback april 3, 2004 by stuart dybek author. His collection, the coast of chicago, was selected as a new york times notable. On the cover of stuart dybeks the coast of chicago, the word stories floats like a subliminal message in the shadows of an urban chicago landscape. I dont know if it was the environment i was reading within or the fact that the latter work by dybek was great, but coast. Its top was warped and turning amber on the side where the tubes were. Stuart dybek coast of chicago stories world of digitals. His works of fiction, including the short story collections childhood and other neighborhoods 1980 and the coast of chicago 1990. On the cover of stuart dybek s the coast of chicago, the word stories floats like a subliminal message in the shadows of an urban chicago landscape. Henrys, three of them coming from the collection in which hot ice appears, the coast of chicago.
We read dybeks the coast of chicago in 2004 and we are currently reading dyjas the third coast were grateful for their participation in this years carl sandburg literary. We read dybek s the coast of chicago in 2004 and we are currently reading dyjas the third coast. Interview with stuart dybek chicago public library. The stolid landscape of chicago suddenly turns dreamlike and otherworldly in stuart dybek s classic story collection. Combining homely detail and heartbreakingly familiar voices with grand leaps of imagination, the coast of chicago is a masterpiece from one of americas most highly regarded writers. Stuart dybek is the author of two collections of short fiction, the coast of chicago and childhood and other neighborhoods, as well as a volume of poetry, brass knuckles.