Ben Hecht, journalist, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, was one of the major figures of the Chicago Renaissance, a reporter of the Chicago scene par excellence. Born on New York's Lower East Side in 1894 to Joseph and Sarah Hecht, Russian immigrants, he attended grammar school there and then was taken by his parents to live in Racine, Wisconsin. After graduation from high school, he briefly attended the University of Wisconsin before going to Chicago. In 1910 he was hired by the Chicago Journal; four years later he joined the Chicago Daily News, where he quickly became known as the most energetic and imaginative reporter on the Chicago beat. In 1918 he was sent to Germany as a foreign correspondent. Hecht sent home extraordinary stories (some of which were invented), discovered Dadaism there, and returned as a full-fledged cynic and individualist. The next four years, from 1920 to 1924, were the most productive in his...