List of fiction set in Chicago

Novels

• Nelson Algren, The Man With the Golden Arm
• Sherwood Anderson, Windy McPherson's Son
• Blue Balliett, Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3
• Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March
• Saul Bellow, Dangling Man
• Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift
• Saul Bellow, Ravelstein
• Charles Blackstone, The Week You Weren't Here
• Fredric Brown, The Fabulous Clipjoint
• Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files series
• Robert Wright Campbell, Jimmy Flannery mystery series
• Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark
• Peter Cheyney, Dark Hero
• Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
• Brandy Colbert, The Revolution of Birdie Randolph
• Doug Cummings, Deader by the Lake
• Doug Cummings, Every Secret Crime
• Don de Grazia, "American Skin"
• Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie on Modern Library's 100 Best Novels
• Theodore Dreiser, The Titan
• Stuart Dybek, The Coast of Chicago
• James T. Farrell, Studs Lonigan trilogy
• Edna Ferber, So Big
• Joshua Ferris, Then We Came to the End
• John M. Ford, The Last Hot Time
• Robert Goldsborough, A Death in Pilsen
• Robert Goldsborough, President in Peril
• Robert Goldsborough, Shadow of the Bomb
• Robert Goldsborough, Terror at the Fair
• Robert Goldsborough, Three Strikes You're Dead
• John Green, An Abundance of Katherines
• John Grisham, The Litigators
• Bob Hartley, Following Tommy
• Bob Hartley, North and Central
• Aleksandar Hemon, Nowhere Man
• Jerry Ahern, The Survivalist Series - The early books of the series feature Chicago frequently as the Soviets build their HQ in Chicago, with Varakov setting up his HQ in the Museum of Natural History.
• Ward Just, An Unfinished Season
• Harry Stephen Keeler, The Riddle of the Traveling Skull
• Paul Krueger, Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge
• Adam Langer, Crossing California
• Adam Langer, The Washington Story
• Nella Larsen, Passing
• Nella Larsen, Quicksand
• Jennette Lee, Mr. Achilles
• John Malcolm, Mortal Ruin
• Graham Masterton, Headlines
• Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge
• Mord McGhee, Murder Red Ink
• Joe Meno, Hairstyles of the Damned
• Chloe Neill, Chicagoland Vampires
• Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife
• Frank Norris, The Pit: A Chicago Story
• Bayo Ojikutu, 47th Street Black,
• Achy Obejas, Memory Mambo
• Sara Paretsky, thrillers featuring private eye V.I. Warshawski
• James Patterson and David Ellis, The Black Book .
• Richard Peck, Fair Weather
• Joseph G. Peterson, Beautiful Piece
• Daniel Pinkwater, The Education of Robert Nifkin Snarkout Boys and The Avocado of Death, Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror. Recognizably Chicago, even if never explicitly stated.
• Leonard Pitts, Jr., Grant Park
• Philip Roth, Letting Go
• Veronica Roth, Divergent - #1 on the Children's Paperback list in 2012
• Adam Selzer, Just Kill Me
• Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, Illuminatus!
• Shawn Shift, "Hey Liberal"
• Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
• Terrance L. Smith, The Thief Who Came to Dinner
• Scott Spencer, Endless Love
• Ed Wagemann, "The Panty Thief of Bridgeport"
• Chris Ware, Building Stories
• Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth
• Richard Wright, Native Son'' #20 on Modern Library's 100 Best Novels

  Short stories

• "Deadly City," March, 1953 issue of If magazine under the pseudonym Ivar Jorgensen
• Chicago Stories: 40 Dramatic Fictions by Michael Czyzniejewski, Jacob S Knabb and Rob Funderburk, 2012
• The Coast of Chicago: Stories by Stuart Dybek, 2004
• Chicago Style Novella by R. Felini 2013
• "The Box of Robbers" a fairy tale by Lyman Frank Baum, reprinted in American Fairy Tales by Lyman Frank Baum, English Classical Literature, KAPO, 2015. Original, 1901..

  Plays and musicals

• American Buffalo
• Be Like Water
• Bleacher Bums
• Chicago - musical, nominated for ten Tony Awards in 1976
• Chicago - play
• Clybourne Park
• Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
• The Front Page
• Glengarry Glen Ross
• In the Jungle of Cities
• Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
• Mean Girls - musical, nominated for 12 Tony Awards in 2018
• Proof
• A Raisin in the Sun - nominated for four Tony Awards in 1960
• The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
• Sexual Perversity in Chicago
• Show Boat
• Superior Donuts

  Films

• About Last Night
• Above the Law
• The Accountant - partly in Chicago
• Adventures in Babysitting
• The Adventures of Lucky Pierre
• Against All Hope
• Al Capone
• Ali
• Allah Tantou
• American Gun
• American Reel
• Angel Eyes
• Anything's Possible
• April Fools
• August Rush
• The Babe
• Baby on Board
• Baby's Day Out
• Backdraft
• Bad Boys
• Barbershop
• '
• '
• Beats
• Beginning of the End – set in downstate Illinois and Chicago
• Betrayed
• The Big Brawl
• Big Shots
• Blankman
• Blind
• Blink
• The Blues Brothers
• Blues Brothers 2000
• The Boss
• Brannigan
• The Break-Up
• The Breakfast Club
• Breed of Men
• Bridesmaids
• Bridge
• The Brute
• Bugsy Malone
• Butterfly on a Wheel
• Call Northside 777
• Candyman - based on a book originally set in London
• Capone
• Carrie
• Casino - scenes labeled as "Back Home" are in Chicago
• ' - partly in Chicago
• Chain Reaction
• Chicago
• Chicago
• Chicago Cab
• Chicago Deadline
• Chicago Overcoat
• Child's Play
• Child's Play 2
• Chi-Raq
• City That Never Sleeps
• Class
• Code of Silence
• Colombiana
• The Company
• Continental Divide
• Cooley High
• Curly Sue
• '
• Danger Lights
• Death of a President
• Dhoom 3
• The Dilemma
• Divergent
• '
• Derailed
• Dick Tracy
• Dragonfly
• The Dumb Girl of Portici
• Eagle Eye
• Eight Men Out
• '
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off
• Flatliners
• The Fugitive
• The Fury
• Girls Just Want to Have Fun
• Go Fish
• The Grudge 2
• The Grudge 3
• Guilty as Sin
• Hardball
• Harry and Tonto
• Heaven is a Playground
• ' - partly in Chicago
• Hero
• High Fidelity - based on a book originally set in London
• His New Job
• Home Alone
• '
• Home Alone 3
• The Homesteader
• Hoodlum
• Hope Floats - partly in Chicago
• The Hunter - partly in Chicago
• The Great Ziegfeld
• I Love Trouble
• I, Robot
• I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
• In the Depth of Our Hearts
• It's the Rage
• Judgment Night
• Jupiter Ascending
• King of the Rodeo
• Kissing A Fool
• The Lake House
• A League of Their Own
• Light It Up
• Little Fockers
• Looking for Mr. Goodbar
• Love and Action in Chicago
• Love Jones
• Lucas
• The Man with the Golden Arm
• Mean Girls - set in Evanston
• Medium Cool
• Meet the Parents - partly set in Chicago
• Mercury Rising
• Message in a Bottle - partly set in Chicago
• Michael - partly in Chicago
• Mickey One
• Midnight Run - partly in Chicago
• Miracle on 34th Street - partly in Chicago
• Mo' Money
• Monkey Hustle
• Music Box
• My Best Friend's Wedding
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding
• My Bodyguard
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
• National Lampoon's European Vacation - starts in Chicago
• National Lampoon's Vacation - partly in Chicago
• Natural Born Killers - partly in Chicago
• The Negotiator
• Never Been Kissed
• Next of Kin - set in Chicago and Kentucky
• A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon
• Nothing in Common - partly in Chicago
• Office Christmas Party
• On the Line
• Only the Lonely
• Opportunity Knocks
• Ordinary People
• The Package
• Planes, Trains & Automobiles
• Poltergeist III
• Prelude to a Kiss
• Primal Fear
• Prime Cut – set in Chicago and in Kansas City, Kansas
• The Princess Bride
• Proof
• The Public Enemy
• Public Enemies
• Raisin in the Sun
• Random Encounter
• Rapid Fire
• Raw Deal
• The Razor's Edge - based on Maughaum's novel of the same title
• Red Heat
• The Relic - based on a book originally set in New York City
• Return to Me
• Ri¢hie Ri¢h - scenes filmed in Chicago
• Risky Business - set in the North Shore
• Road to Perdition
• Robin and the 7 Hoods
• Roll Bounce
• Rookie of the Year
• Running Scared
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
• Save the Last Dance
• Scarface
• Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright
• Shall We Dance?
• Sheba, Baby - partly in Chicago
• She's Having a Baby
• Silver Streak - partly in Chicago
• Sleepless In Seattle - partly in Chicago
• Slim - partly in Chicago
• Some Like It Hot - partly in Chicago
• Somewhere in Time - partly in Chicago
• Soul Food
• A Sound of Thunder
• Source Code
• Spider-Man 2 - partly in Chicago
• The Sting - partly in Chicago; Academy Award for Best Picture
• Stir of Echoes
• Stolen Summer
• Straight Talk
• Stranger than Fiction
• Strawberry Fields
• Streets of Fire
• Surviving Christmas
• That Royle Girl
• Thief
• Three To Tango
• Tommy Boy - partly in Chicago and Wisconsin
• '
• '
• '
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• Ultraviolet
• The Unborn
• Uncle Buck
• The Untouchables
• U.S. Marshals - partly in Chicago
• Vegas Vacation - starts in Chicago
• V.I. Warshawski
• Wanted
• The Watcher
• Wayne's World - partly in Chicago and the suburb Aurora
• Wayne's World 2 - partly in Chicago
• The Weather Man
• A Wedding
• What Women Want
• When Harry Met Sally... - partly in Chicago
• While You Were Sleeping
• The Whole Nine Yards
• Wicker Park
• Wildcats
• Within Our Gates

Chicago destroyed on film

• In Old Chicago - destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire
• Independence Day - mentioned
• Chain Reaction - parts of the city destroyed by an explosion caused by a hydrogen reactor
• ' - destroyed by a series of tornadoes and a category 6 hurricane over the Great Lakes
• ' - seriously damaged by the Decepticons' assault on the city as well as the final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons
• - the city was rebuilt five years later, where it was used for KSI first

  Music videos

• "Hard to Handle" by Black Crowes 1990, blues rock
• "Jam 1992, by Michael Jackson from Gary, he plays Michael Jordan in an abandoned indoor basketball court
• "I Used to Love H.E.R." by Common 1994, shows clips from the Southside, jazz rap
• "Cha Cha Slide" by Chicago's DJ Casper 2000, shows the Marina City towers; house and hip hop
• "I Wish" by R. Kelly 2001, nominated for Best R&B Video at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, video start shows the "L" train
• "The Game of Love" by Santana feat. Michelle Branch 2002, filmed in Pilsen
• "Step in the Name of Love" by R. Kelly 2003, filmed on a yacht on Lake Michigan
• "Lyric " by Zwan 2003
• "Overnight Celebrity by Twista feat. Kanye West 2004, video has cameos by Chicago rappers like Da Brat, shows Chicago landmark buildings like the Tribune Tower
• "The Corner " by Common feat. Kanye West 2005, video start shows Navy Pier by a frozen Lake Michigan, song is about Chicago
• "Give It All" by Rise Against 2005, they have a mosh pit inside an "L" train
• "Swing Life Away" by Rise Against 2005, video start shows the "L" train
• "Kick Push" by Lupe Fiasco 2006, video shows skateboarding in the city
• "Homecoming" by Kanye West feat Chris Martin of Coldplay 2008, nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, video shows the Millennium Park "bean", Cloud Gate, song is about Chicago
• "Re-Education " by Rise Against 2008
• "You Found Me" by The Fray 2009, filmed on top of skyscrapers
• "1,2,3,4" by Plain White T's 2009, on the VH1 Top 40 Videos of 2009
• "Angels" by Chance the Rapper feat Saba 2016, nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, video shows Chance rapping on top of the "L" train
• "City in a Garden" by Fall Out Boy 2018, shows Wrigley Field and other city landmarks, song is about Chicago

  Television shows

• According to Jim. ABC
• Against the Wall
• '
• The Beast |The Beast
• Betrayal
• Biker Mice from Mars
• The Bob Newhart Show
• The Boondocks Adult Swim
• Boss
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - in its first season, "New Chicago" functioned as Earth's capital city
• The Building
• Charlie & Co.
• The Chicago Code Billy Corgan did the theme song. FOX
• Chicago Fire. NBC
• Chicago Hope. Emmy-winner for Mandy Patinkin. CBS
• Chicago Med. NBC
• Chicago PD. NBC
• Chicago Sons
• Chicago Story
• Coupling - US version only
• The Crazy Ones with Robin Williams. CBS
• Crime Story
• Crisis
• Cupid
• The Dresden Files
• Due South - some filming in Toronto, Canada
• Early Edition
• Easy
• E/R
• ER. Won 23 Emmy Awards. Most nominated drama show ever. NBC
• Exosquad - Chicago, renamed to Phaeton City, was one of the central locations of the show
• Family Matters Emmy-nominated. ABC
• The Forgotten. ABC
• Generations
• The Girlfriend Experience Starz
• Good Times Golden Globe nominated. CBS
• The Good Wife 5-time Emmy winner for Julianna Margulies. CBS
• Happy Endings
• The Hogan Family
• It Takes Two
• Kenan & Kel on Nickelodeon
• '
• Lady Blue
• The League
• Legally Mad
• Leverage - pilot episode only
• Life Goes On
• Life With Bonnie
• The Loop
• M Squad
• Married... with Children. FOX
• Mike and Molly Emmy winner in 2011 for Melissa McCarthy. CBS
• Mind Games
• Modern Men
• My Boys
• Pepper Dennis
• Perfect Strangers
• The Playboy Club
• Postcards from Buster - One Episode set in Chicago, also where Buster Baxter and his dad ride a CTA Brown Line train in the theme song.
• The Real O'Neals
• Prison Break - partly set in Chicago
• Punky Brewster
• Revolution
• Samantha Who?
• Sense8
• Shake It Up Disney Channel
• Shameless Emmy-winner in 2015 for Joan Cusack. Showtime
• Sirens
• Sisters
• . Emmy-nominated. Showtime
• Special Unit 2
• Starting Over
• The Steve Harvey Show. The WB
• Still Standing. CBS
• Terra Nova
• Traffic Light
• Trust Me
• Turks
• Two of a Kind. ABC
• The Untouchables Emmy winner. ABC
• Webster
• What About Joan?
• Whitney
• Wild Card

  Reality TV

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  Video games

• 18 Wheels of Steel series
• BattleTanx
• Blues Brothers 2000
• Chicago 90
• Chicago 1930
• Chicago Enforcer
• The Crew
• '
• Cruisin' USA
• '
• Driver 2
• Emergency Call Ambulance
• Grid 2
• '
• Lethal Enforcers
• Michael Jordan in Chaos in the Windy City
• Midtown Madness
• Mob Enforcer
• Nocturne
• Perfect Dark
• Pilotwings 64
• Project Gotham Racing 2
• '
• '
• Rampage World Tour
• Resistance 2
• Stranglehold
• Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
• '
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
• Watch Dogs
• We Are Chicago

  Comics, manga, and cartoons

• Biker Mice from Mars
• Blue Beetle
• Bojack Horseman Season 6 splits time, with much of the season taking place in Chicago
• Cage, volume 1 - ongoing series by Marvel Comics featuring the superhero Luke Cage; 20 issues were published
• C.O.W.L.
• Ghost
• Gunsmith Cats
• Kremin 1-4 Grey Productions Inc 1991-1992
• Nightwing Vol 3., Issue #18-ongoing
• Plastic Man
• Riding Bean
• Savage Dragon
• Tintin in America

  Miniseries, specials or individual episodes

• Ben 10
• *"Monster Weather"
• The Legend of Tarzan
• *"The Mysterious Visitor"
• Danger Rangers
• *"Fires and Liars"