With the vigor and gusto invariably associated with his personality and his works, Ben Hecht recreates in this volume the lusty Chicago of the early twentieth century, as seen from its underside by a cub reporter on a great metropolitan daily. He introduces the reader to a vast cast of eccentric characters-bums, criminals, prostitutes, politicians, and poets, not to mention the police. He conducts you to the scenes of the crimes. He invites you to...

Acclaimed biographer James McGrath Morris brings into focus the riveting life of pioneering journalist Ethel Payne, known as The First Lady of the Black Press. For decades, Ethel Lois Payne has been hidden in the shadows of history. Now, Morris skillfully illuminates the life of this ambitious, influential, and groundbreaking woman, from her childhood growing up in South Chicago to her career as a journalist and network news commentator, reporting...