The Pig and the Skyscraper: Chicago: A History of Our Future Hardcover - 2002

Media reviews

“Little in the urban scene escapes his attention, and his polemic is a fascinating and wide-ranging contribution to contemporary social thought.”—Choice

“A serious-minded and acutely insightful social analysis of Chicago as the penultimate example of the modern metropolis ... A fascinating, in-depth account.”—Bookwatch

“This kaleidoscope of a book, with its ability to surprise at every turn of the page, to excite the reader with a fresh insight, a new way of seeing, is to be strongly recommended.”—Frontline

“Chicago, America’s megalopolis-as-metaphor, has found its leftward de Tocqueville in Marco d’Eramo. His book is as rare as an Indian Head penny and as hard as truth. It is a book that Algren, Dreiser, Altgeld and Darrow would have acclaimed as ‘on the button.’”—Studs Terkel

“D’Eramo’s keen eye and often ironic stance brilliantly capture the urban condition. As he takes us through the most extraordinary array of events and places, he uncovers a Chicago we had not quite seen.”—Saskia Sassen

“d’Eramo looks to Chicago both as a guide to what the future might be like for European and other cities, but also as a warning about what to avoid.”—Chicago Tribue

“d’Eramo’s book examines different institutions that originated or flourished in Chicago ... rather than narrating a straightforward history. But he does so not just to understand the city or the United States, but also what it means to be ‘modern.’”—In These Times

“For anyone concerned to gain a full-frontal view of ‘capitalism without a G-string’, this is compelling reading.”—Socialist Review