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A PRAYER FOR THE CITY Paperback - 1998
by Bissinger, Buzz
- Used
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist offers the epic and fascinating story Philadelphia's Mayor Rendell, who will do anything to save a city on the brink of collapse. 21 photos.
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Details
- Title A PRAYER FOR THE CITY
- Author Bissinger, Buzz
- Binding Paperback
- Edition First edition
- Condition UsedGood
- Pages 448
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Vintage, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Date December 29, 1998
- Illustrated Yes
- Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Table of Contents
- Bookseller's Inventory # 4WILKM00H03F
- ISBN 9780679744948 / 0679744940
- Weight 0.87 lbs (0.39 kg)
- Dimensions 8 x 5.19 x 0.99 in (20.32 x 13.18 x 2.51 cm)
-
Themes
- Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
- Cultural Region: Northeast U.S.
- Demographic Orientation: Urban
- Geographic Orientation: Pennsylvania
- Locality: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Library of Congress subjects Philadelphia (Pa.) - Politics and government, Philadelphia (Pa.) - Social conditions
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 97009637
- Dewey Decimal Code 974.8
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From the publisher
First line
Less than twenty-four hours before the new job became his and the grace of speculation gave way to crisis, David L. Cohen was ensconced in a suite of offices on the second floor of City Hall doing what he always seemed to be doing: sorting out the mess that had been unceremoniously handed to him by someone else.
From the jacket flap
Current Affairs/Urban Studies
"An extraordinary book, an insider's account of the daily
workings of a big-city administration."
--Witold Rybczynski, The New York Review of Books
A Prayer for the City is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger's true epic of Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell, an utterly unique, unorthodox, and idiosyncratic leader who will do anything to save his city: take unions head on, personally lobby President Clinton to save 10,000 defense jobs, or wrestle Smiley the Pig on Hot Dog Day--all the while bearing in mind the eternal fickleness of constituents whose favor may hinge on a missed garbage pick-up or an overzealous meter maid. It is also the story of citizens in crisis: a woman fighting ceaselessly to give her great-grandchildren a better life, a father of six who may lose his job at the Navy Shipyard, and a policy analyst whose experiences as a crime victim tempt her to abandon her job and ideals. Heart-wrenching and hilarious, alive with detail and insight, A Prayer for the City describes a city on its knees and the rare combination of political courage and optimism that may be the only hope for America's urban centers.
"A Prayer for the City gives a unique insider account. . . . [It] is a superb book. . . . Bissinger's writing, sparse and urgent, always shines . . . and his narrative crackles with descriptive force." --The Miami Herald
"A full-scale portrait of a struggling American metropolis that brings to mind such classics of urban reportage and analysis as J. Anthony Lukas's Common Ground and Nicholas Lemann's Promised Land."
--The New York Times Book Review
"What we see through Bissinger's unique lens isprofoundly touching and inspiring, poignant and sad. . . . If you really want to feel the
heartbeat of the American city--and find a source of hope for its
revival--you will find it here." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
"An extraordinary book, an insider's account of the daily
workings of a big-city administration."
--Witold Rybczynski, The New York Review of Books
A Prayer for the City is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger's true epic of Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell, an utterly unique, unorthodox, and idiosyncratic leader who will do anything to save his city: take unions head on, personally lobby President Clinton to save 10,000 defense jobs, or wrestle Smiley the Pig on Hot Dog Day--all the while bearing in mind the eternal fickleness of constituents whose favor may hinge on a missed garbage pick-up or an overzealous meter maid. It is also the story of citizens in crisis: a woman fighting ceaselessly to give her great-grandchildren a better life, a father of six who may lose his job at the Navy Shipyard, and a policy analyst whose experiences as a crime victim tempt her to abandon her job and ideals. Heart-wrenching and hilarious, alive with detail and insight, A Prayer for the City describes a city on its knees and the rare combination of political courage and optimism that may be the only hope for America's urban centers.
"A Prayer for the City gives a unique insider account. . . . [It] is a superb book. . . . Bissinger's writing, sparse and urgent, always shines . . . and his narrative crackles with descriptive force." --The Miami Herald
"A full-scale portrait of a struggling American metropolis that brings to mind such classics of urban reportage and analysis as J. Anthony Lukas's Common Ground and Nicholas Lemann's Promised Land."
--The New York Times Book Review
"What we see through Bissinger's unique lens isprofoundly touching and inspiring, poignant and sad. . . . If you really want to feel the
heartbeat of the American city--and find a source of hope for its
revival--you will find it here." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
Categories
Media reviews
Citations
- New York Times, 01/24/1999, Page 28
