Chicago: Chicago Review Press, (1983). First edition - An account of the Congressman who became the first African American Mayor of Chicago (on his second attempt in 1982) written by a woman who describes him in the preface as "an old college buddy" and who looks at his election in the context of anti-Black racism in the US. Index. 308 pp. ISBN: 0-914091417.

New York: Random House, (2020) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's very highly praised first book, a "collection of interlocking stories, set primarily in Bronzeville's now-demolished Stateway Gardens housing project for which the book is named. A young boy named Tracy is our primary guide and narrator, but by the end even the high-rises themselves become fully fleshed-out characters. Though sometimes dreamy with longing for the comforts of a childhood, which, from the outside, appears filled with privation, Drain - who grew up in Englewood and now lives in Kenwood - has fashioned an indelible portrait of this city. . . Through slyly poetic language and an absolute grasp on place and description, Drain has added to the canon of Chicago literature."(Chicago Reader). ISBN: 978-1984818171.

New York: Simon & Schuster, (2004). First edition - The author's fourth novel (seventh book), set during a hot Chicago summer where Jack, newly wed and very much in love with life itself, finds his perceptions shattered by an inconsiderate neighbor's perpetual partying. 306 pp.

New York: Random House, (1998) dj. Hardcover first edition - In this book, Bray uses her personal history to "defend America's much-maligned welfare system. A smart black girl from the Chicago slums didn't have much chance of going to Yale or becoming an editor at the New York Times Book Review before Aid to Families with Dependent Children helped Rosemary's selfless mother make ends meet and keep Rosemary in school. Bray's account of her progress is both inspiring and despairing, as she criticizes the welfare 'reforms' that closed to others doors that were opened for her." Praise from Alice Walker, James McBride and others. xvii, 282 pp. ISBN: 0-679425551.

New York: Villard, 1993. SIGNED first edition - The author's sixth novel, a legal thriller set in Chicago in 1983 and the basis for the film of the same name starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton. SIGNED on the title page. 423 pp.

New York: Pegasus Books, (2008). SIGNED hardcover first edition - A neo-noir crime thriller feauturing Tommy McLain, one which pits an Iraq war vet against the Chicago mob. SIGNED on the half title page. 308 pp. ISBN: 1-605980034.

Woodstock, Vermont: Foul Play Press, (1991). SIGNED hardcover first edition - Includes a novella and five short stories set in Chicago in 1947, after World War II, all of which take a fresh look at some of the city's most famous unsolved crimes. SIGNED on the title page. 251 pp. ISBN: 0-881502103.

New York: Random House, (1982) dj. Hardcover first edition - Set in Chicago, this is the story of Frankie Coolin, who has spent his life working in the trades, and seems to have succeeded- he has moved to the suburbs, is the owner of several tenements in the Chicago ghetto, but when one of his warehouses burns and it is found to contain stolen television sets, his world begins to crumble. The only novel written by Edgar award winning writer under this pseudonym, but one of his best. 269 pp. Dust jacket by John Sposato. ISBN: 0-394521234.

Ottawa, IL: Jameson Books Inc., (1985) dj. Hardcover first edition - A rather controversial look at the life of Jesse Jackson - As it discusses his contributions to the civil rights movement, and examines his political career, the authors contend that Jackson used race politics to advance his own aspirations for wealth and power. Foreword by Ralph Abernathy. Notes on sources, index. viii, 269 pp. ISBN: 0-915463083.

New York: Dodd Mead, 1988. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The first Emerson Ward novel - when Jessica Pearson is shot by a bullet through his front window, he embarks on a search for the truth behind her death, a search which takes to the Bahamas, Florida, New York and back to Chicago. SIGNED on the title page. 224 pp. ISBN: 0-396-092217.

New York: Dodd Mead, 1988. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The first Emerson Ward novel - when Jessica Pearson is shot by a bullet through his front window, he embarks on a search for the truth behind her death, a search which takes to the Bahamas, Florida, New York and back to Chicago. SIGNED on the title page. 224 pp. ISBN: 0-396-092217.

New York: Bookman Associates, (1953). Hardcover - "The first complete study ever made of the American Federation of Musicians. The book deals not only with the life of James Caesar Petrillo but with many colorful and leading personalities of the entertainment world whose paths crossed that of the union." Frontispiece portrait. Notes, bibliography, index. 202 p

San Francisco: MacAdam / Cage Publishing, (2002) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The author' second novel, set in the underworld of Chicago's Halsted Street, a world of addiction, prostitution - love in the midst of brutality. INSCRIBED on the half title page. 195 pp. ISBN: 1-931561184.

New York: Covici Friede, 1929. Hardcover first edition - A fictionalized and sympathetic biography of Benjamin P. Hutchinson, "Old Hutch," one of the first of the great speculators in commodity futures - in this case, wheat - between the 1870s to the early 1890s. Interesting look at how these markets work, the bulls who buy and the bears who short the commodities - at the time, plungers - those who went all out to control the markets - were considered heroes. Among other famous plungers who appear in this book are J. D. Armour and Joe Leiter. Illustrated with photographs. 249 pp.

New York: Delacorte, (1991.) dj. SIGNED hardcover - Reprint of the first mystery featuring Chicago private detective V.I. Warshawski, originally published in 1982. Includes a new introduction by Paretsky in which she talks about getting this book first published. Stuart Kaminsky wrote that Paretsky has 'created a female private eye who can be independent, sharp and tough without losing her identity as a woman.' SIGNED on the title page. ix, 244 pp. ISBN: 0-385302606.

New York: TOR / Tom Doherty Associates, (2013). SIGNED - Suspense novel set in 1963, surrounding a plot to kill JFK - in Chicago! The sixteenth novel in the Nathan Heller series. SIGNED on the title page. 322 pp. ISBN: 978-0765361479.

New York: Putnam, (1989) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's second mystery featuring out-of-shape Chicago sportscaster Andy Sussman, set in Southern California in the world of pro-wrestling. 255 pp. ISBN: -39913445X.

Chicago: Reilly & Lee, (1933). Hardcover - Suspenseful story set against the backdrop of the Chicago Century of Progress World's Fair of 1933. Among the relatively few books written specifically for girls by this prolific author. 252 pp.

New York: Putnam, (1989) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's second mystery featuring out-of-shape Chicago sportscaster Andy Sussman, set in Southern California in the world of pro-wrestling. 255 pp. ISBN: -39913445X.

New York: Arno Press, 1974. Hardcover - Originally published in 1899. Includes his impressions of New York City ("much maligned") including the new rapid transit system there, and of Washington, Boston and Chicago, as well as comments on the differences between the North and the South, the American language, the postal system, universities and more. A title in the Foreign Travelers in America, 1810-1935 series. 260 pp. ISBN: 0-405-054416.

New York: Harper & Row, (1982.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Novel set in two modern cities - Bucharest and Chicago - by this Nobel prize winning author. 309 pp. ISBN: 0-06-0148497.

New York: Putnam, 1936. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Includes accounts of trips to Alaska, Chicago, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, Mexico, and especially many trips of excursions around California, including the Mother Lode country of the Sierra Foothills, the high Sierras, the desert and more. Illustrated with many photographs. Presentation copy INSCRIBED by the author to Howard L. Rowe, Madera County Superintendent of Schools and dated in 1941. 241 pp.

New York: Delacorte, (1998.). SIGNED first edition - A stand-alone novel by the author of the V. I. Warshawski mysteries, the story of four troubled people who meet beneath the streets of Chicago. SIGNED on the title page. 386 pp.