Out of an abundance of caution in response to the spread of COVID-19, we have canceled all remaining seminars in the Winter/Spring 2020 term. Please visit www.newberry.org/covid19 for further updates.

Please email seminars@newberry.org with any questions.

Seminar Description

What can be more appropriate than taking a seminar on Ben Hecht on Ben Hecht Way? In 1921, Ben Hecht began writing a daily column for the Chicago Daily News. Called “A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago,” the column provided fictive sketches of the bustling urban landscape in Chicago at the time. A year later, 64 of these vignettes were compiled and published as a book with the same title as the column. In our seminar, we will read and discuss this book while learning about the culture and politics of Chicago in the early 1920s.

Three sessions. E – $170, R – $187

Richard Reeder is the author of “Chicago Sketches” and “1001 Train Rides in Chicago.” He moderates the Chicago–themed book group at the historic Cliff Dwellers Club. He also established and presently facilitates a long–running Chicago literary series devoted to Jewish authors.

Materials List

Required:

• Ben Hecht, 1001 Afternoons in Chicago. The University of Chicago Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-226-32274-2

First Reading:

• Please read the vignettes "Fanny" through "Dapper Pete and the Sucker Play" for the first class.

Registration Information

• Online registration opens at 9 am (CST) on Tuesday, January 7.
• Phone registration opens at 12 pm (CST) on Wednesday, January 8.

Early registration (E) prices are in effect from January 7 at 9 am through January 24 at 4 pm. Regular registration (R) prices are in effect January 24 at 4 pm through the end of the term.

We offer a 10% discount to members, seniors, and students.

Need Help? Please email seminars@newberry.org.

This seminar is part of the Newberry’s Seminars Program. Learn more about registering for a seminar, program policies and procedures, or teaching a seminar.