Almost two years ago, I moved to the middle of Illinois, making Chicago my nearest big city (unless you want to count Indianapolis and, friends, I do not). I've managed three trips there, of various lengths, and I've enjoyed it immensely, from the way different neighborhoods feel, to the easy public transportation to the way there's this giant city populated by midwesterners. So I grabbed this memoir and story of one man's life in Chicago by [[Neil Steinberg a longtime reporter and columnist with the Chicago Sun Times, as a way of learning more about this city.

This book does a good job of covering a vast swath of topics, from Chicago's founding, to how the political machine works, to ordinary stories of how people ended up here. Steinberg has spent his professional life covering human interest stories for his column and breaking news as a reporter. He's witnessed the way the city has changed over the years, with small manufacturers closing down to the slow contraction of the news industry.

Whether this book appeals to you depends on how much you prefer storytelling and learning about one guy's experience to a more methodical approach. I enjoyed his stories, although the strongest part of the book were the opening chapters explaining Chicago's history. Steinberg is adept at explaining why Chicago boomed how and when it did. He also had some insights into current issues, despite this book having been first published a decade ago. ( )

Neil Steinberg's taste of Chicago should be familiar to real Chicagoans. After all, reciting the menu is how they prove they're real Chicagoans. But the host so enjoys his choices, you gotta let him order. We all know that most Chicagoans just line up for the pizza.

This book is not a newcomers' guidebook like Jory Graham's "Instant Chicago," a gift from a Sun-Times reporter of another era. But it is just as much of a love letter to the city's landmarks, famous and obscure. (It's a block away, but I was never in the Division Street Russian Baths.) His Sun-Times readers will recognize favorite stories, but transplant Steinberg's own history will be less familiar. Even as he dwells on obit writing and other tradecraft, he claims Chicago bragging rights in a way that will resonate for most anyone who has worked here.

Steinberg and I share suburban writing apprenticeships, and I detect common trade-press experience in his loving descriptions of potato chip and cardboard tube factories. We mostly kept to ourselves for a decade from desks at the future site of Trump Tower, and while his columnist voice can turn prickly or strident this writer is the shy Steinberg I recall, humbled by his luck at making a career and family in such a vital place.

In true "I Will" spirit, the tablet version is a fit companion for packed L cars with no room for page-turners. Yet on the 66 Chicago bus it affords many chances to look up and marvel at the view. Ever illuminating, the e-book also doubles as a flashlight during a ComEd power failure.

The tale of a reporter's time in modern Chicago, with nuggets of history about the city's birth and development. I loved the insider look into Chicago politics, but there's a strange amount of time spent defending the author's choices, not least in helping his brother get a job. ( )

Steinberg is an excellent writer and--especially as a recent transplant to the city--I really enjoyed his descriptions of Chicago and what it means to be a "Chicagoan." However, I did not realize that this book would be more of a memoir of the author instead of a cultural history of the city. I wouldn't have minded a memoir so much if Steinberg just weren't so unlikable. Maybe it's just his writing style but he comes off as very pompous and arrogant and I found it off-putting and almost didn't finish the book because of his many "humble-brags" ... or just outright brags. He also spends too much time trying to justify using his Chicago connections to get his brother a job with Cook County. He uses that experience to almost justify all the nepotism and cronyism in Chicago. ugh.

There are some lovely passages about the city and about what makes living in Chicago so wonderful. It was interesting to pair this book with "The Third Coast" by Thomas Dyja: Steinberg's book being more of a fluffy love letter to Chicago and Dyja's being a more scholarly cultural history of the city. ( )

Halfway through reading the free e-book from the Chicago University Press, I bought the hard cover version so I could hold it in my hand, enjoy the cover, gaze at it on my coffee table, and hand it to family and friends to read, so I could have someone to talk to about this book and this city. I found the historical portrait of Chicago to be very well written and informative, and a great complement to my previous reads, Devil in the White City, Loving Frank, Lost Chicago and Sin in the Second City.

Neil Steinberg's book is a revelation, filled with bittersweet memoir of a city that never stops changing and growing, and is in a sense, unknowable, even to those who have lived here all their lives. As an east-coast transplant to the Chicago suburbs, the city has always fascinated me, from the visually stunning architecture and museums, to the public spaces and art, the lakefront, the people, the politics, the weather - and after decades of exploring I feel I will never know more that a hint of Chicago, a city in constant flux. Thankfully, this book captures a glimpse of what was, and what lies ahead.

Shifting seamlessly from personal memoir to historical and political context to homage to long gone businesses and institutions, You Were Never In Chicago captivated me as I rushed through my first reading, but I plan to revisit many chapters when my hard copy arrives. I have added many destinations to my must-see in the city list, and can't wait to find the next fascinating destination, person or experience in Chicago. This book gets my highest recommendation. ( )