From Gwendolyn Brooks in Chicago to David Foster Wallace in Normal, Robert Coover in Herrin to Edgar Lee Masters on the Spoon River, the state is a microcosm of America and so is its native literature. Here are 10 of its best works. Read more
Robert Forster's tough-guy long vowels got him typecast as a cop, like Chicagoans Dennis Farina and Dennis Franz. But Forster is from upstate New York. So what gives? Read more
