An Irish painting contractor in a changing neighborhood struggles with the complications of befriending a Black worker. The edgy enclave he fled haunts a South Side exile, upending his life. A boy who helps his father fake accidents for insurance claims reaches a turning point. A woman from a rough patch of South Shore remembers her first girlfriend. And a Census taker learns empathy as she counts people. Their lives weave through colorful, gritty streets in The Plan of Chicago, Barry Pearce's absorbing debut of heartbreaking division, unexpected intersections, and dim but possible dreams.

Barry Pearce won the Nelson Algren Award for fiction in 2019. His stories have been published in Colorado Review, Cimarron Review, Cagibi, the Chicago Tribune, and elsewhere. He lives in Chicago.