Blue in Chicago

'She holds the city's humanity in an uneasy but affectionate embrace, and her voice is unlike any other. Fiercely straightforward, honest, angry, warm-hearted. ' New York Times. 'Grippingly good. an insanely sane mix of the hard-to-fight city in the '70s and the accidental poetry of families stumbling through time. ' Vogue. 'If there's a Howland bandwagon (and there should be), hold me a seat, or I'll stand. No problem, I'll stand. ' Paris Review. 'The work of a woman who has invested her life in her art, and who will, I think, be remembered as one of the significant writers of her generation. ' Saul Bellow'Brilliantly percipient and darkly witty stories that go memorably and feelingly deep into life and come out with something like hard-won wisdom. ' David Hayden, author of Darker with the Lights On. 'Sharp, wry, entirely of their city; confidingly cynical, then with a sudden soulfulness that sends you reeling - I loved these stories. ' Lucy Caldwell, author of Multitudes.