Bob Hartley was raised on the West Side of Chicago. He holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Pittsburgh. His first novel, Following Tommy, was published in 2012 by Cervena Barva Press to extremely favorable reviews. He has been, among other things, a writer, actor, singer, teacher, bartender, mailroom clerk, and washer of soap molds. He currently makes his living as a respiratory therapist and lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and two children.
"...a terrific, terrific novel..." — Rick Kogan, WGN Radio,
interview posted 5/20/2018
"This is the Chicago story of my grandfathers and father and
uncles. It's as tough and real and bittersweet as an old
neighborhood dive. In fact, it might just be one come alive." —
Bill Hillmann, author of The Old Neighborhood
"In this memorable and tender novel that brings to vivid life
working-class bar culture of 1970s Chicago, Bob Hartley has created
a lovable cast of miscreants that brings to mind the great Studs
Lonigan novels of James T. Farrell." — Joseph G. Peterson, author
of Wanted: Elevator Man
"Is there a Chicago School? North and Central belongs on the shelf
alongside Sister Carrie, Studs Lonigan, Native Son and The Man with
the Golden Arm, works that truthfully portray the grit of Hartley's
favorite city (and mine)." — Noel Ignatiev, author of How the Irish
Became White
"Bob Hartley nails late-seventies blue collar Chicago, with jobs
going away, bills coming due and cops you can't tell from the
robbers. North and Central captures the loyalty, the toughness and
the desperation of the shot and beer crowd." — Sam Reaves, author
of Mob Cop
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