Features
Secret City
What good is a secret if nobody knows about it? Here are 75 of our favorite people, places, and things – tunnels under Uptown, prisms at the planetarium, a bowling poet. They’re all underexposed, and all urban classics.
Power Play
by Lisa Twyman Bessone
His father was a legendary tyrant and tightwad. His team is a chronic flop. His name is reviled by fans who want to see Blackhawk games on television. But William Wirtz knows how to win when it counts.
Hyde Park Gothic
by Ted Anton
The murder of a University of Chicago professor last May stunned the school. Then the real shocks began: Was the killing occult-related, or part of the twisted politics of the professor’s homeland?
The Late Show
From the newest superclubs, karaoke joints, and sports bars to the venerable watering holes – a guide to the bars and clubs
Departments
Letters
Frontlines
Dynamic duos: actors, writers, volunteers; plus, Scoops du Jour, by Carla Kelson
Art Works
by Henry Hanson
David Hockney, Banana Republic, neon, and surrealism
Prime Time
Hot dates around town this month
Metro
by Mark Jannot
New approaches to a critical problem: How do you prepare teachers for Chicago’s inner-city schools?
Media
by William Brashler
Tribune sportswriter Bernie Lincicome and the fierce art of pith and vinegar
Chicago Woman
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
Lawyer Ingrid Beall says that not being one of the boys has cost her a bundle, so she’s going to court.
Movies
by Penelope Mesic
British director Stephen Frears films a Cinderella story in Chicago.
Books
Fire and ice – two rite-of-passage first novels by Craig Vetter and David Michael Kaplan
Theatre
by Anthony Adler
Bucktown’s newest theatrical offerings are raucous and playful, flaky and poetical, and sometimes downright magical.
Real Estate
by Dennis Rodkin
Houses on the (auction) block. Plus, eye-popping residential real-estate sales
Dining
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
Casual settings, affordable fare; Budget Beat, by David Novick
Back Talk
by Henry Hanson
David Byrne, Joan Allen, Amy Irving, Leon Despres