Big Al's Official Guide to Chicago-ese.
Chicago: Contemporary Books, [1982]. Paperback. Illustrations by Bill Stebbins. Foreword by Mike Royko. 4to. Stiff glossy blue pictorial wrappers. 64pp. Line drawings, illustrations. Very good. Quite minor edgewear. Item #45089
ISBN: 0809256088
A tight and attractive first edition of this amusing how-to on Chicago dialect -- "Translated Into English for the First time... Plus Bugsy's Illustrated Chicago Crime Tour." Strangely and interestingly, tipped before the title page is a bizarre bit of shall we say "Caponiana" -- an 8½" X 11" printed press announcing the April 21, 1986 "live on television" airing of "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault" from Tribune Entertainment Company. This heavily-marketed two-hour television special hosted by Geraldo Rivera turned into a fiasco, for when Rivera finally opened the vault it was empty.
Price: $55.00