S: We’re on Printers Row. This is actually historically one of the more important districts in American publishing. Printers Row was a center of book binding from back, oh I think around the Turn of the Century or even fifty years before. I think the MacArthur Foundation is headquartered around here somewhere, and we’re, ah, going to go up to the MacArthur Foundation offices and ask them for some grants. D: Is it South, or North? A: I guess it’s North. S: I guess the MacArthur Foundation isn’t actually housed on Printers Row. It was worth a stop, anyhow. W: I can feel a sense of literature in the air. An exciting American literature. S: We’re walking past the Printers Row Restaurant which is where many printers had their supper for hundreds of years. D: So where do we have to go then? S: We’re walking up about three, four blocks. W: Do you feel the magic? S: Yes I do. We just walked by Starbucks. Starbucks is actually in the hypertext novel. W: That’s a famous Chicago coffee shop, isn’t it? S: Yeah. It’s kind of a Chicago thing, Starbucks. Apparently they have some kind of a coffee farm out there in Seattle. And then they import that directly—they roast it in Seattle and import that directly into Chicago. S: Here’s the Hyatt on Printers Row. That’s where we’re going to be staying when we read at the Printers Row Book Fair next year. W: When we’re passing through on our tour we’re going to be staying at the Hyatt here on Printers Row. S: Yeah. W: And Chicago’s an exciting town. It’s the city of Big Shoulders. It’s got a real flair to it, a real style. Everywhere I look there’s green awnings and black and white checkered floors and brass rails… A: Shot in front of Harold Washington? S: Yeah we should maybe do a shot in front of the library, sure. I saw Don DeLillo read here. I asked him a question about James Joyce. He was suspicious of me. W: Everything smells like… beer and. . . if you could see the majestic taxicabs hurtling past the majestic banks of glassy buildings… you’d know what I smell. S: Do we gotta get out of the shadow? A: It’d probably be better if you were in the shadow. That way you’re not all squinting, and losing your minds. PREVIOUS / NEXT

Harold Washington Library 3:31 285K RealAudio File