Arthur Meeker (1902–1971)

This book was a gem that I stumbled across at a used book sale and bought for a quarter. It is the semi-autobiographical novel of a man who grew up on the once fashionable Chicago street - Prairie Avenue and who writes about its rise and fall in Chicago Society of the late 19th Century.

Told in three parts, set ten years apart, the book tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who is sent to live with his aunt, uncle and cousins on tony Prairie Avenue after his feckless father loses his fortune in unwise speculation on the commodities market. There he learns how to socialize with Chicago's upper crust, most especially their neighbors, the Kennerlys (modeled after the Armour meat packing family). Little by little the secrets of the families in the neighborhood, including his own, are revealed and as the years pass by the decline of the neighborhood is a metaphor for the decline of the families of the city's great founding industrialists.

Written in rich detail, this book is a feast for Chicagoans interested in the city's wild and wooly past, as well as fans of novels of manners.… (meer)