Frank Rizzo

Rating:
Summary: A Great Man, A Fantastic Book!
Review: I am a voracious reader of biographies, and I can say without hesitation that this is one of the best I've ever read. Sal captures the charisma of a compelling, John Wayne figure. Sal's study is fair-minded, balanced and complete. But what makes this book so fascinating is that it reads like a great novel -- engrossing from first page to last. You really care about Frank Rizzo, despite his shortcomings. There may be no better portrait of big-city politics than this terrific book.

Rating:
Summary: well done
Review: Interesting to read, chock full of historical detail not just on the Rizzo record but also on all kinds of tangential matters- for example, that if James Tate (Rizzo's predecessor) had not promised to reappoint Rizzo as police commissioner, Arlen Specter might have beaten him in 1967. (And who knows what that might have led to - Nixon/Specter 68 anyone?) I do, however, think the author is being overly romantic when he suggests that Rizzo could have beaten Ed Rendell in 1991 had he lived. A white Democrat (especially one as personable as Rendell) usually beats a white Republican in Philadelphia- and though Rizzo had many good qualities, his tax and spend record as mayor suggests that using Frank Rizzo to fix Philadelphia's fiscal crisis would be like using a hammer to destroy a wasp nest- the right tool for the wrong job.

Rating:
Summary: A look at big-city politics with a larger-than-life mayor
Review: Sal Paolantonio, who used to cover politics for the Philadelphia Inquirer (and who now is a football commentator for ESPN), takes a concise yet comprehensive look at the political life of Frank Rizzo, perhaps the most colorful mayor in Philadelphia history and the archetype of the old-school, white-ethnic political leader who faced a rapidly changing urban America in the 1960s and 70s.

Even if you are not familiar with Philadelphia politics, Paolantonio does a wonderful job to paint the political picture of the day and examines the "hows" of Rizzo's mayorality and the "whys."

This book was one of the most enjoyable political biographies I've read. Pick it up, and you won't put it down until you're done reading it.