Book Description
The stories of George Ade are energetic, detailed, and affectionate slices of the social life of Chicago in the Gay Nineties. Originally appearing in the Chicago Record between 1893 and 1900, they range from candid character sketches and snapshots of everyday street scenes to fiction and fantasies drawing on the endless stream of inspiration the bustling city provided.

Ade was hailed by such contemporaries as Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken, and William Dean Howells, and the stories contained in this volume showcase the full spectrum of his skills: his keen eye for the absurd and sublime moments of daily urban life, his ear for the vernacular, his shrewd understanding of the midwestern character, and above all his firm belief that all of human life was worthy literary subject matter.

This volume includes many lively and evocative drawings by John T. McCutcheon, Ade's college classmate and friend who came to be known as "the Dean of American Cartoonists." Also included is an introduction by Franklin J. Meine, incorporating interviews with Ade and letters from John McCutcheon, Mark Twain, and Ade's managing editor, Charles H. Dennis.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

stories of chicagoreview
GEORGE ADE
BOOK REVIEW

The book is about the history of Chicago and the people. The purpose of this book is to let people know how things were growing up in the city. I heard this book was to be humorous, but I only found a few of the stories to be humorous. The author George Ade experienced a few of the stories himself.

This book is mostly for people interested in the history of Chicago. How people survived back in the 1900's. The article mentions little shops and how they managed to have a business in only ten feet of space. People in Chicago would like the stories, there might be some people related to people in this book.

The people in the book talk about how foreigners came to Chicago and they put more effort into their lives to make a living. They said the Americans did not go out and work hard for the things they wanted. I felt this statement was judgmental of the people in the book. The race does not matter; it's the individual person who makes their lives.

There were two stories that I thought were very funny and interesting.
An office worker's day off, he went and spent the day of leisure and drinking.
Only he came home and said he was tired. The one thing this shows is times will never change for men and women. One particular story caught my attention, because it's about the field I am studying. This guy was interested in people who resided at a psychiatric hospital. So he was invited with a group of researchers to visit the hospital.
He wanted to see crazy people and he met some and thought this is all there is?
So he went off another way and ran into a guy, the guy started chasing him.
He ran, jumped and screamed until he could run no more. The guy only wanted to play tag. I laughed so hard.

I recommend this book for the pleasure of learning about Chicago. People who like the past will enjoy this book. This is a good learning source for historians. ... Read more

Book Description
George Ade was a newspaper columnist, playwright and writer.Ade was a humorist writing about the common man.Ade followed in the footsteps of Mark Twain using his ability with colloquial language and humor to write fables with a moral message. ... Read more