This Night, in Chicago...

Sid's in Denver and I told him I'd grab the paper to send him local photos from the election. I was nowhere near downtown, but I was in the city, having gone to get my anti-inflammatory shots. I told Sid that one day there would be a nonfiction novel, not a memoir, more like a cop story. The entire novel would be in one neighborhood in Chicago, one night, ending even before voting stopped for the night. The air was both electric and static and heavy. George Pelecanos wrote THE BIG FOREVER, and its a period novel, but is set entirely during the March Madness basketball games in the late 70s, covering maybe two weeks in Washington DC. Its a violent book, I'd hope the news I've been hearing of gunfire in certain areas is simply a rumor or an exaggeration. But it was something, walking the streets and sitting on the buses earlier this evening, afternoon turning to dusk, then to night, me at various transfer spots. The air is what I remember most, it was like breathing in something that really wasn't oxygen. Hard to explain, really. And I know I won't be the one writing that novel, and I'm not saying it will even be written anytime soon (refer to Pelecanos above). But THIS NIGHT, IN CHICAGO might be a pretty good title to start with...Wayne