Life in Pilsen

I found Alexai Galaviz-Budziszewski's short story collection, Painted Cities, while browsing the shelves at the main branch of the Chicago Public Library.  It caught my eye mainly because of the beautiful artwork that extends over both the front and back covers.  And once I pulled it down from the shelf, I knew I was going to read it because it's about Chicago.

I immediately thought of Jabari Asim's A Taste of Honey, a short story collection set in a fictional St. Louis neighborhood.  After reading Painted Cities, the comparison still stands, though mostly due to atmosphere vs structure.  While Asim's stories featured many of the same characters again and again, Galaviz-Budziszewski's has one main character going through childhood to adulthood over the course of the stories.

His stories are set in Pilsen, a working-class Polish and Mexican community on Chicago's west side, during the 1970s and 1980s.  Each story is a window into the lives of people without a lot of money, living in a lot of violence, making the best of it.  One story is about a graffiti artist's tribute to a young girl that was shot dead while sitting on a bench.  People would pass the mural and describe it as poignant, even though some of them didn't know what poignant meant.  That story just so perfectly encapsulated this collection for me.

There are other stories that are just as good, though.  Really, all the stories are good.  From the block parties around fire hydrants to panning for gold to bringing the dead back to life, there is so much here that relates Galaviz-Budziszewski's own childhood and that of so many others in this city I love.

Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the US, not only along racial lines but also along economic ones.  It's hard to imagine going through life in the midst of gang violence, drugs, and all the rest, but Painted Cities helps you do just that.  Sure, life was hard, but there is still friendship, people sticking up for each other, striving to do well, and enjoying a good time with your friends.  I really liked the way the author (sorry, I just can't keep typing out his whole last name) made sure to show both sides.

I really enjoyed this collection, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys short stories.  It was
almost like a series of textual postcards, if that makes sense.  I hope you give it a try.  A few quotes to tantalize you:

I've had other moments, since then.  When I graduated college, for about five seconds I felt free.  Or when I rode my first motorcycle down the alley behind my house, for about ten seconds I felt free.  Then I realized I had to turn.  But up there on the roof, when I was alone with Buff, I knew it, that it was all us; our lives were what we made of them.  Never again have I felt as free as I did then.

Maximilian turned and started walking back to the car.  His face was red now, swollen.  He was cryig.  He looked like he wanted to yell, to scream, but couldn't get anything out.  The Celebrity's hazards had stopped dead.  The car had died.  I wished we were back in the procession.  I wished there was somewhere, anywhere, for us to go.