by John Freeman (ed.).
Pieces about the Windy City.
Granta 108, the theme of which is Chicago, is something of a return to form, as far as I'm concerned. It contains plenty of non-fiction (or perhaps fiction masquerading as non-fiction), most of which is pretty damn good. I particularly (and surprisingly) enjoyed Neil Steinberg's piece, Driving Ed McElroy, about a man who specialises in getting politicians to meet the right people in the press: a political arranger, if you will. But there are plenty of other excellent pieces in there.
The only downer in this edition was a lengthy extract from Peter Carey's new novel Parrot & Olivier in America. I'm a big Peter Carey fan, but single chapters from novels should have no place in Granta.