Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago

by Dan Santow, Todd A. Savage, George McDonald

"Like being taken around by a savvy local." -The New York Times "Little fluff and lots of fun." -Boston Globe Are you tired of clich?-ridden guidebooks packed with promotional fluff? Then move over to the Irreverent Guides-the travel series that no tourist board would dare to recommend. Look inside for the lowdown on: Great hotels for retromaniacs-and which ones to avoid if you hate conventioneers Pizza that locals line up for in the dead of winter...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0028625722
• ISBN13: 9780028625720
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Frommer's
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Great book, great times...

Like all Irreverent Guides, this title showcases all the highlights the city and surrounding area have to offer. Compact, easy to use and highly informative.

Good introduction to a *huge* city

I spent my first 18 years around and in Chicago, so I was very curious to see what the Irreverent people suggested about my hometown of sorts. A word of warning... there is the usual quibble that applies to all of the irreverent books: they are more designed for reading a whole section at once, as the organization scatters litle info-nuggets about one particular place across a number of different sections. With that being said, the index in the back can guide you to the relevant pages for a specific place you are looking for.All in all, I found this an incredibly fun and informative book that covers a large range of establishments and attractions in the few hundred pages it was given. It seems aimed at the younger or more adventurous traveler. Let's face it, almost everyone knows the Field Museum, the Art Institute, Brookfield Zoo, Sears Tower, etc. What this guide will help you do is find a great nightclub buried in the industrial district (Crobar), the surreal summer sports customs (16-inch softball!), the famous Frank Lloyd Wright architecture that is spattered around the city (Roble House), alternative shopping complexes (Belmont and Clark), where to grab a drink before a Cubs game (Cubby Bear), and famous local theater (Steppenwolf).So if you are traveling to Chicago, and want to get a feel for the city that isn't completely upper-middle class and whitewashed (which the traditional Frommer's and such can fall prey to quite often), this book would be a great travel guide to help you out. It's even an interesting read for people living *in* Chicago, as there were a number of places in the book I was not familiar with which sound like quite a good time.