Are there any secrets left in Chicago? Author Lauren Viera says there are 500 of them

CHICAGO — Knowing that the world’s secrets are as close as your phone or computer keyboard — “Alexa, what’s the meaning of life?” — do we really need to buy and read books that claim to offer answers to questions we’ve never asked?

There have been previous literary efforts aimed at divulging the “secrets” of Chicago and its environs and some websites offer to do the same. And I suppose for a few bucks your neighborhood bartender will be happy to tell you where you might score a cheap fur coat or hot TV set.

There is now a new book, “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Chicago,” written by my former Tribune colleague, a bright and energetic young woman named Lauren Viera, who writes that she would like to “thank all of the people who shared their secrets to grow and diversify the list of treasures that made it into this book.” She also thanks me for “embodying Chicago through and through.”

That’s flattering and likely due to my years of writing about this city and often rambling about those stories when we sat near one another at the newspaper. “I did learn a lot about the city from you,” Viera told me.

That’s nice but she did a lot listening to a lot of others, for it would not have been possible for her to compile a gathering this large and comprehensive without the aid of many others.

Viera was born and raised in California, went to Oberlin College in Ohio and took the Bachelor of Arts in music and architecture she earned there to various places, eventually landing in Chicago to work for such publications as Time Out and the Tribune. She’s been here for a couple of decades and before you start carping about her origins, please know that many of Chicago’s chroniclers came from elsewhere. Studs Terkel was born in New York City, Nelson Algren from Detroit.

After leaving the Tribune in 2011, Viera worked in advertising for a while, freelanced for various outlets and continues to teach at Columbia College as she has since 2007.

When she was approached about writing this book, she was not initially thrilled, thinking “When you write about secrets, they are no longer secrets, are they?”

But she was impressed with the quality of the publisher, Luster, which is based in Antwerp, Belgium. This book is the latest in its “500 Hidden Secrets” series that has provided books about cities such as Tokyo, Istanbul, Barcelona, Rome and Dublin. There are more than 30 of these, even one for a place called Porto, which is in Portugal.

The handsome book about Chicago is divided into 10 sections devoted to food, drink, kids’ stuff, shopping, and other topics and activities. Each of those is further divided into such categories as gardens, boutiques, secondhand stores, day spas, picnic spots, out of town visits, lobby bars, music venues, and on and on.

The book contains a few small and attractive maps, but they are merely decorative, the book telling you that “these maps are not detailed enough to allow you to find specific locations in the city.” You are also told that you can “obtain an excellent map from any tourist office or in most hotels.”

“These pages are merely a starting point: a collection of one local’s discoveries gathered from a few decades of wandering. So, go see for yourself,” Viera writes.

Viera has given the book a lively Chicago feel, and that is one of its principal pleasures. There is not, for instance, an explanation of Malört or “dibs” in any of the other city guides. She was able to create many of her own sections and takes delight in writing about such local “wonders” as the curse of the Billy Goat, the Great Chicago Fire and the site of gangster John Dillinger’s demise.

I know that this and the other “500 Hidden Secrets” books are aimed at tourists and there is nothing wrong with that. Tourists need to get off the beaten paths. But there is enough here to satisfy or intrigue any local.

One of Viera’s secret places is One Bennett Park, tucked just to the west of Navy Pier. In the book’s short section on “5 delightful parks,” she writes that this two-acre patch of greenery “features a variety of materials to add aesthetic interest while defending itself against wear and tear. At its center is a lush lawn bowl.”

Many places on these pages — Marina City, Vito & Nick’s, Art Institute — will surprise you only if you have been living under a rock for the last decade. But Viera does a thoughtful job of enlivening even the most familiar, writing of Alcala’s Western Wear at 1733 W. Chicago Ave., “Frequented by denim heads seeking out the vast selection of Levi’s and Wranglers, Alcala’s is first and foremost a mecca for traditional western boots and cowboy-style hats. The cramped shop famously stocks thousands of each, worth window-shopping alone.”

None of the entries in the book is more than three or four sentences long and she provides addresses, phone numbers and websites for all. There are also a few photos by Giovanni Simeone, who came here from his native Italy and learned, over a week of shooting, that the city is “a great and challenging playground for photographers.”

Read the whole book and it is impossible not to feel Viera’s affection for the city. “I love Chicago,” she says. Married for more than a decade to a professional mapmaker named Jason Tinkey, they have an 8-year-old daughter named Viola and live in the Logan Square neighborhood.

“I have contributed to other books but seeing my name on the cover of this one has been weird and exciting,” Viera said. “This book I hope is a reflection of my affection for the city.”