Cabdrivers and their yellow taxis are as much a part of the cityscape as
the high-rise buildings and the subway. We hail them without thought
after a wearying day at the office or an exuberant night on the town.
And, undoubtedly, taxi drivers have stories to tell--of farcical local
politics, of colorful passengers, of changing neighborhoods and
clandestine shortcuts. No one knows a city's streets--and thus its
heart--better than its cabdrivers. And from behind the wheel of his
taxi, Dmitry Samarov has seen more of Chicago than most Chicagoans will
hope to experience in a lifetime.
An artist and painter trained at the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, Samarov began driving a cab in 1993 to make ends meet, and he's
been working as a taxi driver ever since. In Hack: Stories from a
Chicago Cab, he recounts tales that will delight, surprise, and
sometimes shock the most seasoned urbanite. We follow Samarov through
the rhythms of a typical week, as he waits hours at the garage to pick
up a shift, ferries comically drunken passengers between bars, delivers
prostitutes to their johns, and inadvertently observes drug deals. There
are long waits with other cabbies at O'Hare, vivid portraits of street
corners and their regular denizens, amorous Cubs fans celebrating after
a game at Wrigley Field, and customers who are pleasantly surprised that
Samarov is white--and tell him so. Throughout, Samarov's own
drawings--of his fares, of the taxi garage, and of a variety of Chicago
street scenes--accompany his stories. In the grand tradition of Nelson
Algren, Saul Bellow, Mike Royko, and Studs Terkel, Dmitry Samarov has
rendered an entertaining, poignant, and unforgettable vision of Chicago
and its people.
