Novelist Alex Kotlowitz, originally a New Yorker, traveled to Chicago in search of a story. What he found was much more -- a city of people who he feels characterize the "real" in America. It's a place where he has now lived for 20 years (and counting). He interweaves history, anecdote and biography in this brief, street-level view of the city and its everyday people. A Crown Journeys book.  (GLK35, $16.95)