Reviews

“Writing in the lyrical, revelatory mode of Stuart Dybek, Pearce illuminates the soul of Chicago and the perplexities of human nature with exquisite sensitivity, authenticity, and artistry.”
—Booklist starred review, Donna Seaman

“Barry Pearce’s wonderful The Plan of Chicago: A City in Stories is a love letter to a recognizable Chicago, full of snowbound dibs and Irish bars, hidden storefronts and class conflicts across neighborhoods. Don’t sleep on this one.”
—The Chicago Tribune, Christopher Borrelli

“If there were ever a moment when the country and the world could use such a poignant collection of vignettes from neighborhoods across the City in a Garden—that moment is now…The Plan of Chicago is a balm, offering a glimpse of our sanctuary city, and the humans within it, in all of their complexity.” —New City, Amanda Norton

“The people in these stories live lives that, for the most part unknowingly, are intertwined. They provide a unique, grass-roots biography of Chicago, as it is and as it’s lived.” —Third Coast Review, Patrick T. Reardon

“Maybe what impressed and interested me most about this collection was the way Pearce plotted, in a kind of tangled web, the interior and exterior stories. In most of these nine pieces, I found myself quickly settled into a narrative whose arc seemed sure, even predictable, only to find that my assumptions were wrong.” —The Chicago Review of Books, Donald G. Evans

“With deep empathy and granular detail, these stories take the measure of a city on the make.”
—Kirkus Reviews starred review

“Pearce’s prose exudes a solid sense of place, but the author’s real power lies in his ability to trace the emotional toll of his characters’ seemingly small but consequential decisions. It’s an accomplished and assured first outing.”
—Publishers Weekly

“The modern-day Algren . . . Barry Pearce’s stories capture the denizens who define this city.”
—Chicago Magazine, Thomas Connors

“After Hours” interview with Rick Kogan —WGN Radio - Listen Here

“Though Pearce has been favorably compared to such local literary lions as Algren, Studs Terkel, Stuart Dybek and Sandra Cisneros, he is more than able to stand on his own, giving us a Chicago true to its time and troubles but also to its dreams.” —Chicago Tribune, Rick Kogan

Q&A with Irish journalist Peter McDermott —The Irish Echo

Q&A with Deborah Kalb, author of Off to Join the Circus. —Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb

Playlist for The Plan of Chicago: A Mexican ballad by Tish Hinojosa, an Irish one by Bobby Sands, a Somali folk song by Abdullahi Qarshe. . . —Book Notes, Largehearted Boy

“Through these varied characters – Black and White, straight and gay, wealthy and working-class – Pearce captures the breadth and depth of the city that sits dead center in America and perhaps better than any other, can reveal its promise and flaws.” —Irish American News

“Pearce proves to be studied in the Chicago literary tradition and assumes his place alongside greats like Theodore Dreiser, Nelson Algren, and Stuart Dybek. These stories perfectly capture the beauty and struggle of working class life, the intimacy of silence amid the clatter of the city, and the intricate stitchwork of Chicago’s many communities.”

—The Chicago Review of Books, 12 Must-Read Books, Michael Welch

Live from the Heartland interview on WLUW, 88.7 FM Chicago. —Lumpen Radio, Mike James (@ 38:40)

Media