Part of Belt's City Anthology Series. "A strong series of personal
essays, historical exploration, nature writing, and photography. ...
Love's anthology gathers [Gary's] resilience without shying away from
the city's hard realities."―Chicago Review of Books
Once the second-largest city in Indiana, and home to the world's largest
steel mill, Gary has suffered greatly in the postindustrial global
economy. Population numbers now approach pre-Great Depression lows.
Large swathes of its land are urban prairie, and a recent survey found a
quarter of its built environment is in a dilapidated or dangerous
condition. But Gary is also a national center of Black culture and
political power. It is home to the Indiana Dunes National Park and
globally rare ecosystems. Union, community organizing, and environmental
justice struggles there have profoundly shaped social and political life
in the United States.
Edited by Samuel A. Love, The Gary Anthology's contributors include
essayists, poets, and journalists, but also graffiti writers, ministers,
activists, organizers, and steel workers. Their insights into the city
complicate our simplified narratives about violence and urban decay,
offering readers the chance to hear from those who are reshaping the
city from the bottom up.
A nuanced look of a city that is full of everyday joys and tragedies and
a vibrant rebuke to stale notions that Gary is "dead."
