The Thing of It Is: With Reflections on Chicago and the Problem Society

Book by Callaway, John D.

For the past 10 years Callaway has conducted Chicago Tonight on public television station WWTW and has contributed a number of essays to Eleven , its monthly subscriber magazine. Those columns form the bulk of the 57 pieces in this collection, although there are several from other Chicagoland publications. In his autobiographical material, Callaway is folksy and down-home, underplaying his newspaper parents' alcoholism, but is never pollyannaish, as when he explains why Christmas depresses him. In the sections titled "The Thing of It Is" and "Words and Pictures," he blasts American cars, smoking and junk mail. After sections on foreign travel and his love affair with the Second City, Callaway turns deadly serious with a set of powerful, hard-hitting essays on the problems of contemporary society, a splendid climax.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

John Callaway is a Chicago icon, a popular public television figure who interviews, ponders, critiques, and amuses on Chicago Tonight. His reflections collected here were first published as columns in Channel Eleven magazine and as articles in the Chicago Tribune and elsewhere. Some, such as his 30-minute radio essay on the 1968 Democratic National Convention, have not previously been in print. Callaway's rise from college dropout working the police beat to radio and television news director and analyst is conveyed through this collection of autobiographical material, political analysis, jaunty interviews, and serious contemplation of today's "Problem Society." A refreshing collection replete with Callaway's charm that can be read from beginning to end or in a random fashion. Denise Perry Donavin