What’s so great about Chicago? It’s the city of neighborhoods and the city of big shoulders. It is also the city of opportunity for many who were born in foreign lands.
Enter the University of Illinois at Chicago and its histology department. The department employs several faculty members of Egyptian descent and encourages medical students from Egypt to study in Chicago.
Chicago doesn’t really have a main plot; instead, it tells the stories of several students and faculty members in the histology department. Some have lived in the United States for a long time; others are struggling with the culture clash between Americans and Egyptians. Some wish to hold onto their traditions; others cannot wait to dump them. Their lives will intersect in subtle, yet interesting ways.
I loved the different stories for each character, though I wish the novel had a more unifying plot. It seems that only the city of Chicago unifies all of these characters.
11/3/08
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