Jessica Hopper's 'Night Moves' Relives Memories and Neighborhoods Past

Reading the pages of Jessica Hopper’s latest book, Night Moves, (University of Texas Press) I found myself reliving my younger days as a creative living and hustling on the streets of Chicago.  As a free lancer working in theater, dance, movies, and anything else I could find, I identified with Hopper’s journey to define her creative self while struggling to make ends meet.  In hindsight, being broke had its benefits.  Being forced to traverse the City by foot or public transportation, Chicago opened up in ways I could never experience being cooped up in a Honda. Through Night Moves, I rediscovered those somewhat faded memories of good times and bad.  The book is a compilation of vignettes of Hopper’s exploration of the City between 2004 to 2008.  It revisits when Hopper fell in love with Chicago, block by block, on a bicycle.  More than that, Night Moves is a snapshot of Chicago that no longer exists as Hopper and I knew it.

A Chicago-based music critic and the author of 2015’s The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic, Hopper’s credentials are impressive.  She was formerly the editorial director at MTV News, and a senior editor at Pitchfork and Rookie.  Hopper has also served as editor for the American Music Series at University of Texas Press for over 20 years (and counting) as well as a music consultant for NPR’s “This American Life”. 

But before her success, Hopper relocated from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to a north side neighborhood in Chicago that was smack dab in the headlights of impending gentrification. She spent the “aughts” exploring the Chicago streets searching for her voice as an aspiring writer.  She did PR for various bands but yearned to develop her own creativity.  Drawing on her personal journals, Night Moves chronicles Hopper’s time as a DJ, living in decrepit punk houses, biking to bad loft parties with her friends, and exploring Chicago deep into the night.  Each chapter is a snapshot of fading memories and neighborhoods that have since fallen victim to million-dollar condo developments.

With chapters as meandering as Hopper’s bike rides and walks throughout the City, Night Moves is a love letter to friendships, music, and Chicago. For Hopper, this is where she found her place in the world.  She got around mostly by bike or foot, subsisting on crummy jobs, attending concerts, and falling in and out of relationships that left her buoyant or bummed out.  Throughout the book, Hopper shares her view of a City that she has developed a love/hate relationship with.

Chicago-Based Music Critic & Author Jessica Hopper   Photo by David Sampson 

“Chicago is a very culturally rich place where it is easy to find community,” explains Hopper.  “It is profoundly comfortable to live in a city that doesn’t give a shit and loves how you are, because it is every bit as marred, bereft, and cocky as you are.”

Night Moves reads like a journal.  Each chapter is only a few pages.  The book is small and easily fits into your backpack or bag.  This makes it the ideal book to pull out and read in between stops on the el or bus.  Or maybe you prefer to follow Hopper’s lead and just look out the window, enjoying the surprises the City offers those who care to look.