Lovers, Dreamers, & Thieves
My people, Chicago, and the Polish bakery where I grew up
Memoir
By:
Marcia Cebulska
Lovers, Dreamers, & Thieves is a luminous memoir of family, identity, and becoming—told with a novelist’s eye for detail and a poet’s gift for language. In a series of vivid vignettes, Cebulska brings to life the unforgettable characters and extraordinary stories that shaped her upbringing in Chicago’s Polish American community.
By turns funny and poignant, intimate and expansive, these portraits transform everyday family lore into modern folk tales—stories that move effortlessly between the holy and the profane, the tender and the shocking. A youthful longing to become a nun sits alongside a great-grandmother blacksmith, a grandfather staging fake weddings, an uncle tied to the mob, and a father’s arrest. Each tale feels fantastical, almost unbelievable—until you realize every word is true.
Big-hearted, captivating, and deeply human, Lovers, Dreamers, & Thieves is a memoir that reads like legend and lingers like truth—a must-read for lovers of family stories, Chicago history, and beautifully crafted nonfiction.
“Marcia Cebulska’s account of life in Chicago’s Polish community is both moving and important. Polish Americans in Chicago are often referenced but have not often told their own story. Lovers, Dreamers, and Thieves captures both the joys and the sorrow of the immigrant/ethnic experience in the Windy City. It is a must read for anyone interested in Chicago and its diverse people.”
-- Dominic A. Pacyga, Author of, American Warsaw: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Polish Chicago
"This memoir is at once funny and poignant, wide-ranging and laser-focused, personal and universal. Cebulska weaves memories, family stories, and local history with deftness and reverence, creating a memoir that is both fun to read and profound."
-- Charles Anthony Silvestri, poet, lyricist, author of, A Silver Thread
“Marcia Cebulska, in Lovers, Dreamers, & Thieves, transforms the stories of her life into fabulous folk tales full of fantastic and fantastical lore focusing on everything from the holy (a youthful interest in becoming a nun), to the earthly and earthy (her great-grandmother was a blacksmith), to the wholly bizarre (her grandfather produced fake weddings) and shocking (her uncle’s connection to the mob and father’s arrest). This collection elevates the commonplace book far above and beyond the common, up past the luminiferous ether, settling in the realm of legends that couldn’t possibly be true, right? Oh but they are. Now listen…”
-- Andrew Farkas, author of, The Great Indoorsman: Essays,The Big Red Herring, and Sunsphere
“With a novelist’s eye for detail and a poet’s gift for language, Cebulska has written a visceral knockout of a memoir packed with vibrant, unforgettable family members and unexpected happenings. Cebulska is a brilliant, big-hearted, and luminous storyteller who can capture a world in a short vignette. I was entirely captivated by these intimate and moving family portraits that have shaped the author's life and work.”
-- Harriet Lerner, author of The Dance of Anger and Why Won’t You Apologize?