Bring up South Shore — a Chicago neighborhood tucked along the lakefront south of Jackson Park — and the first thing many might think of is crime. Depressed retail. Terror Town. 

But it’s also the place from which some notable Chicagoans like Michelle Obama, David Mamet and Carol Moseley Braun hail. It’s where the stately homes of Jackson Park Highlands stand, not far from tidy middle-class bungalows that have drawn residents there for generations. 

Carlo Rotella grew up in South Shore, and even though he hasn’t lived there for many decades, he hasn’t been able to get it out of his blood. His new book, The World is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood, goes deep into South Shore and his memories growing up there.

Rotella joins Morning Shift to discuss his new book.

GUEST: Carlo Rotella, author and professor of English at Boston College

LEANR MORE: The World is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood (The University of Chicago Press)