Chicago: The Second City

Has anyone ever read the book Chicago: The Second City by A.J. Liebling? It essentially a commentary on Chicago in 1950 by the famous writer. He's a New Yorker who also frequents the cities of London and Paris. In one example, he laments on how in Chicago bars, there is always a live show or music which disable him from being able to carry on a conversation. In contrast, the New York bars were quiet and sophisticated. Well, this is funny because in today's world, most bars around the world are the noisy ones... Also, elitist Chicagoans were a little ashamed of Chicago and did all their shopping and theater going in New York. This has changed quite a bit, I would imagine. Well, now to the point of this thread: He talks about Chicago architecture a little bit. From the Oak Street Beach back then, you could see the Chicago Tribune building. He remarks on how the whole city was basically flat and then suddenly there was this wall of skyscrapers by the lake. This does bring to mind how much Chicago must have changed in the past 55 years. This book was written during that whole building drought that lasted from the depression until the mid-1950s. So, besides for a few Chicago School buildings in the loop and some nice ones by the river, what did Chicago have to offer? Was it seen as an architecture capital back then? Or was the assumption back then that Chicago already had its day... now on to New York? Any historians care to shed some light?>