Rachel Shteir, AB’87, has lived in Chicago for a total of 17 years, but has probably never felt less at home. After the New York Times ran her review of three new Chicago books—which included a few sharp, if not exactly untrue, observations about the city—she's been pilloried in print, on television, and especially on the Internet.

In a follow-up piece for the New York Observer, Shteir even compared herself to another Chicago pariah, Steve Bartman, the Cubs fan unfortunate enough to try to catch a foul ball in 2003.

Surely there are some Chicago books that Shteir likes, I thought. And there are.

Less than an hour after I e-mailed her to ask (perhaps because she was relieved my questions didn't include “When are you leaving?”) Shteir sent the following list:

Sister Carrie (1900) by Theodore Dreiser.
“Hands down, my favorite book about Chicago.”

The Pit (1903) by Frank Norris.
“Despite its melodramatic elements, for the descriptions of post Great Fire heft.”

Ravelstein (2000) by Saul Bellow, X'39.
“What would this list be without its U of Chicago comedies?”

Closing of the American Mind (1987) by Allan Bloom, PhB'49, AM'53, PhD'55.
“As horrifying as it is to admit this now, I was deeply influenced in the late 1980s by this book. So I have to include it, although I really would not call it a favorite. But I did like its cantankerous ambition.”

Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) by David Mamet.
“Is a play a book? I admire the play for many reasons, not least of which is its elegance.”