List of fiction set in Chicago
This is a list of fiction set in or near the city of Chicago .
Novels
Author
Title
Year
Comments
Achy Obejas
Memory Mambo
1996
Adam Langer
Crossing California
2004
Adam Langer
The Washington Story
2005
Adam Selzer
Just Kill Me
2016
Aden Polydoros
The City Beautiful
Aleksandar Hemon
Nowhere Man
2002
ISBN 0-375-72702-7
Andy Van Slyke and Rob Rains
The Curse: Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Or Do They?
2010
Arthur Hailey
Airport
1968
Audrey Niffenegger
The Time Traveler's Wife
2003
ISBN 0-15-602943-X
Bayo Ojikutu
47th Street Black
2003
ISBN 0-7394-3326-1
Blue Balliett
Chasing Vermeer
2004
Blue Balliett
The Wright 3
2006
Bob Hartley
Following Tommy
ISBN 978-0983104186
Bob Hartley
North and Central
ISBN 978-0986092282
Brandy Colbert
The Revolution of Birdie Randolph
2019
Brandy Colbert
Pointe
2014
Brian J.P. Doyle
Chicago
ISBN 978-1-25006-199-7
Carolyn Keene
The Case of the Rising Stars
1989
87th volume in the Nancy Drew mystery series
Charles Blackstone
The Week You Weren't Here
2005
Chloe Neill
Chicagoland Vampires
2009 - 2017
Chris Ware
Building Stories
2012
Chris Ware
Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth
2000
Daniel Pinkwater
The Education of Robert Nifkin
1998
Recognizably Chicago, even if never explicitly stated.
Daniel Pinkwater
The Snarkout Boys and The Avocado of Death
1982
Recognizably Chicago, even if never explicitly stated.
Daniel Pinkwater
The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror
1984
Recognizably Chicago, even if never explicitly stated.
Don De Grazia
American Skin
1998
Doug Cummings
Deader by the Lake
Doug Cummings
Every Secret Crime
Ed Wagemann
The Panty Thief of Bridgeport
Edna Ferber
So Big
1924
Elliot Perlman
The Street Sweeper
2012
Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code
2003
Erika Sánchez
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
2017
National Book Award Finalist
Frank Norris
The Pit: A Chicago Story
1903
Fredric Brown
The Fabulous Clipjoint
1947
Graham Masterton
Headlines [ 1]
1986
Halle Butler
The New Me
2019
ISBN 978-1474612296
Harry Stephen Keeler
The Riddle of the Traveling Skull
1934
ISBN 1-932416-26-9
James Patterson and David Ellis
The Black Book (Patterson and Ellis novel)
2017
ISBN 978-1-4555-4267-3
James T. Farrell
Studs Lonigan trilogy
1932 - 1935
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked the Studs Lonigan trilogy 29th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century .
Jami Attenberg
The Middlesteins [ 2]
2012
Jean Toomer
Cane
1923
Jennette Lee
Mr. Achilles
1912
Jerry Ahern
The Survivalist Series
1981 - 2019
The early books of the series feature Chicago frequently as the Soviets build their HQ in Chicago, with Varakov setting up his HQ in the Museum of Natural History.
Jim Butcher
The Dresden Files series
2000–present
Joe Meno
Hairstyles of the Damned [ 3]
2004
John Green
An Abundance of Katherines
2006
John Grisham
The Litigators
2011
(a #1 New York Times Best Seller in 2011)
John M. Ford
The Last Hot Time
2000
ISBN 0-312-87578-9
John Malcolm
Mortal Ruin
ISBN 0-684-18958-5
Joseph G. Peterson
Beautiful Piece
2009
Joshua Ferris
Then We Came to the End
2007
ISBN 978-0-316-01638-4
Kathy Reichs
206 Bones
2009
Kevin Gen
Coldren's Prison
2022
ISBN 979-8352373293
Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Grant Park
2015
Marcus Sakey
The Blade Itself
2007
Matthew Rettenmund
Boy Culture
1995
Meyer Levin
Compulsion
1924
Inspired by the real-life Leopold and Loeb trial
Miami Mitch (Glazer)
The Blues Brothers
1980
Mia P. Manansala
Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series
2021–present
Mord McGhee
Murder Red Ink
2014
ISBN 978-1501041174
Nella Larsen
Passing
1929
ISBN 0-14-243727-1
Nella Larsen
Quicksand
1928
ISBN 0-14-118127-3
Nelson Algren
The Man With the Golden Arm
1949
ISBN 1-58322-008-9
Paul Krueger
Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge
ISBN 978-1594747595
Peter Cheyney
Dark Hero
1946
Philip Roth
Letting Go
1962
Richard Peck
Fair Weather
2001
Richard Powers
Generosity: An Enhancement
2009
Richard Wright
Native Son
1940
#20 on Modern Library's 100 Best Novels
Robert Goldsborough
A Death in Pilsen
2007
Robert Goldsborough
A President in Peril
2009
ISBN 978-1-59080-616-6
Robert Goldsborough
Shadow of the Bomb
2006
Robert Goldsborough
Terror at the Fair
2011
ISBN 978-1-59080-672-2
Robert Goldsborough
Three Strikes You're Dead
2005
Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
Illuminatus!
1975
Robert Wright Campbell
Jimmy Flannery mystery series
Sandra Cisneros
The House on Mango Street
1984
ISBN 0-679-43335-X
Sara Paretsky
V.I. Warshawski
thrillers featuring private eye V. I. Warshawski, most recently 2020: Overboard
Saul Bellow
Dangling Man [ 4]
1944
Saul Bellow
Humboldt's Gift
1975
Saul Bellow
Ravelstein [ 5]
2000
Saul Bellow
The Adventures of Augie March
1953
ISBN 0-14-018941-6
Saul Bellow
The Actual
1997
Scott Spencer
Endless Love
1979
Shawn Shiflett
Hey, Liberal!
Sherwood Anderson
Windy McPherson's Son
1916
Somerset Maugham
The Razor's Edge
1944
ISBN 1-4000-3420-5
Stuart Dybek
The Coast of Chicago
1990
ISBN 0-312-42425-6
Stuart Dybek
Childhood and Other Neighborhoods
1980
Stuart Dybek
I Sailed with Magellan
2003
Terrance L. Smith
The Thief Who Came to Dinner
Theodore Dreiser
Sister Carrie
1900
ISBN 0-451-52760-7 , on Modern Library's 100 Best Novels
Theodore Dreiser
The Titan
1914
Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
Apollyon
1998
Upton Sinclair
The Jungle
1906
ISBN 1-884365-30-2 [ 6]
Veronica Roth
Divergent
2011
Set in post-apocalyptic Chicago - #1 on the Children's Paperback list in 2012
Veronica Roth
Insurgent
2012
Veronica Roth
Allegiant
2013
Ward Just
An Unfinished Season
2004
Willa Cather
The Song of the Lark
1915
Short stories
Chicago Invaded by Hordes of Prehistoric Monsters Dealing Death and Destruction , an anonymous 9000 word short story published by the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers as an April Fools prank in 1906.
"Deadly City," March, 1953 issue of If magazine under the pseudonym Ivar Jorgensen (later made into the motion picture Target Earth ; the story is about an alien invasion and evacuation of Chicago)
"About Boston" by Ward Just . pp. 12–39 in Legal Fictions edited by Jay Wishingrad, 1992, reprinted from 21 Selected Stories by Just (1990). The story contrasts Boston and Chicago.
"Big Boy," pp. 97–99 in Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris begins "It was Easter Sunday in Chicago....", 2000
Chicago Stories: 40 Dramatic Fictions by Michael Czyzniejewski, Jacob S Knabb and Rob Funderburk, 2012
The Coast of Chicago: Stories by Stuart Dybek , 2004
Chicago Style Novella by R. Felini, 2013
"The Box of Robbers" a fairy tale by Lyman Frank Baum , reprinted in American Fairy Tales by Lyman Frank Baum, English Classical Literature, KAPO, 2015. Original, 1901. ISBN 978-5-9925-1039-3 .
Plays and musicals
Films
Although not set in the city's limits, the John Hughes directed films Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , Pretty in Pink (1986) (#1 film in U.S.), and Weird Science take place in the fictional town of Shermer, Illinois , which is based on Northbrook, Illinois . A scene of Weird Science was filmed at Northbrook Court mall.
In The Matrix (1999, directed by the Wachowskis from Chicago), the subway sets were based on the CTA. One of the trains is clearly a Brown Line train, which in reality, barring construction, never goes underground.
Chicago destroyed on film
Music videos
"Hard to Handle " by Black Crowes 1990, blues rock
"Jam " 1992, by Michael Jackson from Gary, he plays Michael Jordan in an abandoned indoor basketball court
"I Used to Love H.E.R. " by Common (rapper) 1994, shows clips from the Southside, jazz rap
"I'll be Missing You " by Puff Daddy 1997, filmed at the United Terminal at O'Hare Airport
"Cha Cha Slide " by Chicago's DJ Casper 2000, shows the Marina City towers; house and hip hop
"I Wish " by R. Kelly 2001, nominated for Best R&B Video at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards , video start shows the "L" train
"The Game of Love " by Santana feat. Michelle Branch 2002, filmed in Pilsen
"Step in the Name of Love " by R. Kelly 2003, filmed on a yacht on Lake Michigan
"Lyric (song) " by Zwan (Billy Corgan ) 2003
"Overnight Celebrity by Twista feat. Kanye West 2004, video has cameos by Chicago rappers like Da Brat, shows Chicago landmark buildings like the Tribune Tower
"The Corner (song) " by Common (rapper) feat. Kanye West 2005, video start shows Navy Pier by a frozen Lake Michigan, song is about Chicago
"Give It All " by Rise Against 2005, they have a mosh pit inside an "L" train
"Swing Life Away " by Rise Against 2005, video start shows the "L" train
"Kick Push " by Lupe Fiasco 2006, video shows skateboarding in the city
"Homecoming " by Kanye West feat Chris Martin of Coldplay 2008, nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards , video shows the Millennium Park "bean", Cloud Gate , song is about Chicago
"Re-Education (Through Labor) " by Rise Against 2008
"You Found Me " by The Fray 2009, filmed on top of skyscrapers
"The video for 'Zawsze Tam Gdzie Ty', one of Polish rock band Lady Pank greatest hits is set on Chicago's 'L', the Quincy Station in particular. Directed by Tom Kuznar.
"1,2,3,4 " by Plain White T's 2009, on the VH1 Top 40 Videos of 2009
"Angels " by Chance the Rapper feat Saba (rapper) 2016, nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards , video shows Chance rapping on top of the "L" train
"City in a Garden " by Fall Out Boy 2018, shows Wrigley Field and other city landmarks, song is about Chicago
Television shows
Reality TV
Video games
This is a list of video games in which a major part of the action takes place in the city. This list does not count sports games or flight simulators , save for Pilotwings 64 and Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
List of games which feature a fictional city closely based on Chicago
In Batman: Arkham , as a fictionalized Gotham City in which is almost identical to Chicago: for example some of the buildings like Tribune Tower can be seen within the Arkham franchise. The city also serves as Gotham within the Injustice series as well.
In Mafia , 1930s Chicago serves as inspiration for the setting of Lost Heaven. In Mafia: Definitive Edition , it is confirmed that Lost Heaven is in Illinois.[ 15]
In Mortal Kombat , Chicago plays a dynamic level known as "street" in which the level appears most of the MK series.
In Ratchet & Clank , in this fictional utopian city of Aleero City, some of the buildings have a huge representation of Chicago's magnificent skyscrapers bundled up together.
In Halo , Chicago in Halo 2 is the multiplayer map known as Foundation.
Comics, manga, and cartoons
Miniseries, specials or individual episodes
See also
References
^ "The Official Site: Bibliography" . Graham Masterton. Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ Levitt, Aimee (13 June 2013). "Jami Attenberg Shows You Can Go Home Again" . The Chicago Reader . Retrieved 16 August 2021 .
^ "Fiction" . Joemeno.com . Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ Coetzee, J.M. (May 27, 2004). "Bellow's Gift" , New York Review of Books . Retrieved February 5, 2015.
^ Hitchens, Christopher (27 April 2000). "Christopher Hitchens reviews 'Ravelstein' by Saul Bellow · LRB 27 April 2000" . London Review of Books . 22 (9). Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ "BRIA 24 1 b Upton Sinclairs The Jungle: Muckraking the Meat-Packing Industry - Constitutional Rights Foundation" . Crf-usa.org . 1906-06-30. Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ "Dark Knight's kind of town: Gotham City" . Today . Associated Press. July 20, 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014 .
^ Begley, Chris (March 25, 2011). "Chicago Gotham" . Gotham Police SUV spotted in Chicago for ‘The Dark Knight Rises . Retrieved February 15, 2023 .
^ Roeper, Richard (March 1, 2018). "Little Seems Real — Not Chicago, Not Bloodshed — in Bruce Willis' 'Death Wish' " . Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved January 16, 2021 .
^ "Dhoom:3 (2013)" . IMDb.com . 19 December 2013. Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ "Home That Was Scene Of 'The Fugitive' Murder Is For Sale « CBS Chicago" . Chicago.cbslocal.com . 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ Ebert, Roger (December 29, 1976). "The Monkey Hustle" . RogerEbert.com . Retrieved January 10, 2023 .
^ Egan, Toussaint (September 5, 2022). "Batman: The Animated Series" . Polygon . Retrieved September 5, 2022 .
^ "Why you can't visit Soldier Field in Watch Dogs" . Joystiq.com . 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ Glagowski, Peter (2020-09-04). "Explore The City Of Lost Heaven In Mafia: Definitive Edition's Latest Trailer" . TheGamer . Retrieved 2024-01-18 .
^ "The Golden Age Is Over in C.O.W.L. | News" . Image Comics. Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ "Ghost #11 :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics" . Darkhorse.com . 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2016-02-05 .
^ "Godzilla Takes Down the US, City by City, in 'Godzilla vs. America' Comic" . TheWrap. 2024-10-18. Retrieved 2024-12-04 .
External links