Chicago Stories 1997 is book 2 of my 13-book series Complete Performance Work 1996-2004, collecting up all 400 slam poems, monologues and dialogues I wrote in those years for the very first time. In this particular case, the book covers what was arguably my most successful year as a performance poet -- the year I made the Green Mill city team, placed second at the national tournament, appeared on National Public Radio and all kinds of other fun experiences.