Thing of It is: With Reflections on Chicago and the Problem Society

For the past 10 years Callaway has conducted Chicago Tonight on public television station WWTW and has contributed a number of essays to Eleven , its monthly subscriber magazine. Those columns form the bulk of the 57 pieces in this collection, although there are several from other Chicagoland publications. In his autobiographical material, Callaway is folksy and down-home, underplaying his newspaper parents' alcoholism, but is never pollyannaish, as when he explains why Christmas depresses him. In the sections titled ``The Thing of It Is'' and ``Words and Pictures,'' he blasts American cars, smoking and junk mail. After sections on foreign travel and his love affair with the Second City, Callaway turns deadly serious with a set of powerful, hard-hitting essays on the problems of contemporary society, a splendid climax. (May)