Cover Story
40 Reasons to Love Chicago
It’s Chicago magazine’s 40th birthday, and what better way to celebrate than with 40 local people, places, and ideas that make us optimistic about the next four decades?
Departments
Arena
Abraham Lincoln searches for the meaning of Christmas in a show at Northlight Theatre; “Pocket Guide” sinks its fangs into Albee; the year’s best cookbooks; an insider’s view on the Luc Tuymans exhibition at the MCA.
The Escape Artist
by Catey Sullivan
Experience the charms of small-town yesteryear in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, just 100 miles from Chicago.
Gift Guide
The 85 gifts we’re pining for this year, including 40 great finds under $40.
Cheers
by Amalie Drury
Getting cozy, grandma-style.
Table
Barbecue smokes; French reborn.
Television
by Susan Chandler
Despite winning big on a reality TV show, one Chicago man finds his life largely unchanged.
Top 40
by Geoffrey Johnson
Going eye to eye with four decades of Chicago visionaries.
Show Biz
by David Bernstein
The Chicago producer behind the new musical Spider-Man explains how the most expensive show in Broadway history made it to the stage.
Books
by Jeff Bailey
The coauthor of The Smartest Guys in the Room, the bestseller about the Enron fiasco, discusses her new chronicle of the global financial meltdown.
Reporter
by Shane Tritsch
Why are politics in Chicago and Illinois so corrupt? We asked the experts, and they expounded.
Business
by Dennis Rodkin
Sellers and buyers of foreclosed homes have found a friend in the model sales agent Naomi Campbell.
What I Was Thinking
Daniel Hamburger, CEO of DeVry, on the pros of for-profit higher education.
Deal Estate®
by Dennis Rodkin
Now batting: Bill Veeck’s boyhood home—plus other house and condo news.
Outer Drive
by Jeff Ruby
Highlights and head-scratchers from our first 40 years.
Chicago Guide®
Yule logs and Yeasayer: So long, 2010.
Restaurants
Four newbies shake things up.
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