Reviews
"The book is slender, like a volume of poetry, and I immediately read it cover to cover. I would say that it is perfect-celebratory and sad, a deft encapsulation of the present and an elegy to the past." -Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times, "Rick Kogan. . . has become our local Boswell, a serendipitous chronicler of the nooks and crannies and curious characters that can turn the very act of living here into an adventure." -Jonathan Alter, Chicago Tribune, "Incredible that this story has not been told until now. But, what a story it is. . . . As readers, we're not just reading about the Billy Goatwe become one of its patrons, sitting alongside the bar, listening to these stories as if we were shoulder to shoulder with Rick, Mike, Sam, or Billy . . . for a few hours we feel like part of the family, too." Gapers Block, "The Auditorium, a theater, and the Billy Goat, a tavern, are two Chicago landmarks. The first sprang for the vision of Louis Sullivan, nonpareil of architects. The second sprang from the vision of nonpareil journalist Mike Royko, when days seemed too long and nights too short. It is our good fortune that Rick Kogan, of a fabled Chicago legacy, has put forth a work so whimsical, wistful, and wondrous." Studs Terkel, "In the book's acknowledgments, Kogan writes, 'Reading the work of all the writers who have, with varying degrees of literary license, told the story of the tavern through the years, reminded me why I got in this business in the first place. There were once poets working for newspapers.' Well, fortunately for us, there still are a few, and Kogan is one of them." -Bob Sirott, author, One More Thing, "The Auditorium, a theater, and the Billy Goat, a tavern, are two Chicago landmarks. The first sprang for the vision of Louis Sullivan, nonpareil of architects. The second sprang from the vision of nonpareil journalist Mike Royko, when days seemed too long and nights too short. It is our good fortune that Rick Kogan, of a fabled Chicago legacy, has put forth a work so whimsical, wistful, and wondrous." -Studs Terkel, "Incredible that this story has not been told until now. But, what a story it is. . . . As readers, we're not just reading about the Billy Goat-we become one of its patrons, sitting alongside the bar, listening to these stories as if we were shoulder to shoulder with Rick, Mike, Sam, or Billy . . . for a few hours we feel like part of the family, too." - Gapers Block, "The book is slender, like a volume of poetry, and I immediately read it cover to cover. I would say that it is perfectcelebratory and sad, a deft encapsulation of the present and an elegy to the past." Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times, "In the book's acknowledgments, Kogan writes, 'Reading the work of all the writers who have, with varying degrees of literary license, told the story of the tavern through the years, reminded me why I got in this business in the first place. There were once poets working for newspapers.' Well, fortunately for us, there still are a few, and Kogan is one of them." Bob Sirott, author, One More Thing, "Rick Kogan. . . has become our local Boswell, a serendipitous chronicler of the nooks and crannies and curious characters that can turn the very act of living here into an adventure." Jonathan Alter, Chicago Tribune
