1960s and '70s Spring to Life in Edgy Chicago Memoir

    CHICAGO, IL, June 20, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Award-winning Chicago author Dennis Foley was nearly stabbed to death in an alley fight as a high school sophomore. In his latest book, The Drunkard's Son, Foley looks back from his hospital ICU bed and recounts those days growing up on Chicago's South side in the 1960s and '70s, a time of strife that also found his family running head on into an endless series of roadblocks. Foley intertwines humorous stories about his misadventures with his drunken father alongside journal entries about the strange solitude Foley seemed to enjoy during his 10-day hospital stay, where he befriended an old man dying of cancer.

"I'm a life-long Southsider," said Foley, "and this is definitely a Chicago story. The strengths and weaknesses of our city are seen through the eyes of a young boy and I think this telling works. There's a sense of innocence, a sense of discovery as the young narrator shares his stories. It's a story about Chicago's neighborhoods, blue collar families, my family, and the quirky people who inhabit all of these."

Quirky to say the least. The odd agents who weave their way across Foley's pages make for a fantastic read. While the book is filled with a number of sad stories reminiscent of Angela's Ashes, Foley's humorous stories help bring good balance to this work. Stories such as "The Fish House," where Foley acts as his father's accomplice during a drunken heist at a pet shop, and "Naked Ladies" will delight readers, while stories like "Mike the Cat" and "Darts" may invoke nightmares.

Foley's first book, The Streets and San Man's Guide to Chicago Eats, reached icon status in Chicago with its insightful, humorous reviews of Chicago's off-the-beaten-track eateries. That book won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Award--1st Place for humor. Foley is a teacher and coach at St. Laurence High School and he started the Beverly Youth Lacrosse program on Chicago's South Side. The Drunkard's Son is available at independent bookstores, through the publisher at sidestreetpressinc.com, and in print and electronic form from amazon.com.

Founded in 2011, Side Street Press is a Chicago small press publisher intent on supplying a venue for authors who feature Chicago and its vast array of characters prominently in their stories.

Contact: Bill Donlon
Publisher: Side Street Press
Phone: 773-982-8559
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sidestreetpressinc.com

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