Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side

Lee Bey

Place Matters – I think of Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste” as the most important book of the year. “Southern Exposure” hits closer to home with different aims but no less powerful insights. Chicago’s South Side is roughly the size of Philadelphia and, as Lee Bey notes, there are treasures here – history itself – that must be preserved. Bey, a former Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic, has photographed the treasures presented here and penned a moving essay that is part love letter, part call-to-action. For me, this book ranks among other Chicago classics – Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” Nelson Algren’s “Chicago: City on the Make,” Mike Royko’s “Boss,” Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago Poems,” Richard Wright’s “Native Son,” Alex Kotlowitz’s “There Are No Children Here,” Gwendolyn Brooks’ poems, and others – in defining the city so many of us love so dearly. “Southern Exposure” also deserves a special place on the desk of the Mayor and every CEO in this town.