The Third Coast When Chicago Built the American Dream [Paperback]

 Winner of the Chicago Tribune‘s 2013 Heartland Prize

A critically acclaimed history of Chicago at mid-century, featuring many of the incredible personalities that shaped American culture
 
Before air travel overtook trains, nearly every coast-to-coast journey included a stop in Chicago, and this flow of people and commodities made it the crucible for American culture and innovation. In luminous prose, Chicago native Thomas Dyja re-creates the story of the city in its postwar prime and explains its profound impact on modern America—from Chess Records toPlayboy, McDonald’s to the University of Chicago. Populated with an incredible cast of characters, including Mahalia Jackson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry, Sun Ra, Simone de Beauvoir, Nelson Algren, Gwendolyn Brooks, Studs Turkel, and Mayor Richard J. Daley,The Third Coastrecalls the prominence of the Windy City in all its grandeur.Chicago Tribune:
The Third Coastis deeply researched, thoroughly thought-out, exquisitely structured and beautifully written — an essential for any lover of Chicago and American history.”

Scott Turow, The New York Times:
An intensely engaging book, notable for its intellectual breadth, arms-wide research and [the] high-octane prose that keeps it riding high...
 
New York Times Book Review (cover):
[A] robust cultural history… Dyja zooms in on the qualities Chicagoans value and does it better than anyone else I've read.

Vanity Fair:
A rollicking cultural history… What's a given now was often given by Chicago: high-rises, gospel and the blues, TV talk shows,Playboy, McDonalds, sketch comedy…Was it all dazzling coincidence or, as Dyja suggests, something in the water?

Chicago Tribune