Features

The Player
by Gretchen Reynolds
Raising money for Richard M. Daley is the hottest game in town, and for more than a decade, Paul Stepan had been top man in it. Then his luck started to turn.

A Rahm for the Money
by Mark Jannot
Bill Clinton’s chief fund-raiser, Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel, may be too good for his own good.

In Sickness and in Health
by Laurence Gonzalez
Carolyn’s mammogram had shown nothing. But only weeks later cancer was discovered in both of her breasts. Her husband tells the story of her double mastectomy and her recovery.

I Was a Thug for Hire
by Tony Fitzpatrick
He’s big, he’s bald, he’s a bruiser – so he was a natural as a bit player in the movies, even when he forgot his lines.

Carnival Knowledge
by Joanne Trestrail
For artist Robert Charles Howe, painting is a daily miracle – and seeing is believing.

The Beat Generation
by Gale Kappe
The merengue, two-step, fox trot, cha-cha, rumba: Here’s where to go when you’ve gotta dance.

Midnight Specials
by Jan Parr
A couple of dozen places – from bars to cafes to restaurants – that satisfy those late, late cravings

At Home
by Dan Santow and Deborah Newmark
His-and-hers bathrooms make it easy to rise and shine. Also, what’s new in bath design

Departments

Letters

Frontlines
Lynda Barry’s new sounds; a celebrity cop’s rounds; an ex Guv’s long walk home

Art Works
by Henry Hanson
Celebrating the Picasso; remembering James Futris

Prime Time
Hot dates around town this month

Metro
by Debra Shore
A1986 law was supposed to alert people to chemical dangers nearby. Six years later, it still has problems.

Business
by Dan Santow
At the new Le Perroquet, Michael Foley tries to teach on old bird some new tricks.

Chicago Woman
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
The White Sox go out of their way to have a way with women.

Movies
by Penelope Mesic
At the Blacklight film festival, questions of color go beneath the skin.

Books 
Nelson Algren eats his heart out; Al Capone cooks up big-time trouble.

Theatre
by Anthony Adler
John Guare’s “separation” play exposes the tragedy inherent in the American dream.

Real Estate

by Dennis Rodkin
New middleclass housing comes to the ‘hoods.

Dining
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
Japanese restaurants high-priced and low with conservative and daredevil dining

Budget Beat
by Anne Spiselman and David Novick
A tasty tour of Albany Park

Back Talk
by Henry Hanson
Holly Hunt, Tom Pritzker, Pussy Paepcke, Bob Falls, Bruce Willis, Roger Ebert, Jane Sahlins