A Prayer for the City

Rating:
Summary: Can anyone save a modern city?
Review: A wonderful book about a truly horrible subject, Bissinger takes us deep into the world of Ed Rendell and his fearless sidekick, David Cohen. Quite possibly the best mayor in Philadelphia's recent, spotted history, (Compare Frank "Keep the N***** Down" Rizzo and Wilson "Bombs Away" Goode), Rendell tried his best to save the city from an eroding tax base, racial politics and rampant violence.

Bissinger does a wonderful job of portraying Rendell, a deeply flawed person but expert politico. Rendell has gotten a huge amount of positive press over the years, much of it deserved, but Bissinger is willing to point out Rendell's failings and weaknesses as well. His portrait of Cohen, the Spock to Rendell's Kirk is equally compelling.

In the end though, you realize that no matter how hard Rendell tries, the effort is hopeless. He simply can't fight companies that buy out long term Philadelphia businesses and move the jobs elsewhere, a federal government that seems to actively try to destroy inner cities, a state government that goes out of it's way to humilate a company that might have brought thousands of skilled jobs to the city, and the exodus of the tax-paying middle class from the city. A sense of melancholy overlays the last few chapters as it seems that Bissinger has accepted Rendell's ultimate failure as well.

Highly recommended

Rating:
Summary: a remarkable and incisive book about urban dilemmas
Review: In many ways, Buzz Bissinger's "A Prayer for the City" is one of the most remarkable books ever written about an American city.
In stark and sometimes shocking detail, Bissinger lays out the crises assailing the modern urban core: violence, poverty, economic development, poor public educational systems and so on. What's truly wonderful about Bissinger's book is that he leaves so many questions open. He isn't shallow or dismissive about these urban dilemmas; Bissinger doesn't give pat answers or bromides about how these problems can be solved.

And that's a remarkable achievement on the author's part, particularly given the manner in which he structures this book. Though he sketches the lives of several Philadelphia citizens, there are undeniably two central characters in this book: Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell and his Chief of Staff David Cohen. In some ways -- and I think Bissinger purposefully and effectively conveys this image - Rendell and Cohen should be seen as two sides of the same coin.

Both Rendell and Cohen possess essential characteristics that will be needed in the fight to save the city, but the skills of each are different and, as such, they need each other to do what must be done. Rendell is the affable, easy-mannered, though sometimes short-tempered old politician who is out front. Cohen is the workaholic lawyer whose ruthless attention to the minutiae and detail of public policy brings him 17-hour days and little public glory. The highly public role Rendell plays is layed out in one particularly moving section toward the beginning of the book. Bissinger details a funereal November, 1994 car ride that Rendell took to a city hospital where a police patrolman who had been shot was being treated. Bissinger describes Rendell's interaction with the policeman's family, as well as his palpable anger that a patrolman could be so senselessly cut down in the line of duty. In moving language, Bissinger shows the depth of the problem confronting Rendell and Cohen.

In addition to the generic problems besetting Philadelphia, Bissinger also details those specific to Pennsylvania's largest city. Throughout the book, Bissinger writes of Rendell's and Cohen's attempts to save the Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard from closure by the U.S. Department of the Navy. The story of the struggle for the shipyard, which means the difference between Philadelphia losing or keeping thousands of crucial jobs, provides a penetrating insight into how the municipal and federal governments often move in disparate directions, and how that can have staggering consequences for the local level.
Bissinger's tone in this book is somber, without veering into the maudlin. The author provides great detail about urban problems, but not in a voyeuristic or exploitative way. Though he is clearly rooting for Rendell, Bissinger does not become fawning or mawkish. Indeed, Bissinger's reporting is impeccable, due no doubt to the wide-open access to Rendell he was clearly granted. Primarily, "A Prayer for the City" succeeds because Bissinger set out to tell a great story, and that essential goal is something that far too many journalistic treatments miss these days.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly Written Political (non?) Fiction !
Review: Well, let's face it... The author of this book is obvoiusly a huge fan of Ed Rendell... and is a brilliant writer... the end result... Ed Rendell can pass gas, and in the hands of Bissinger it'll seem like an act of unsurpassed poignancy and heroism... With all that said... The book is unbelievably engaging, captures the realities of life in Philly, its trapped and fleeing residents, and Rendell's nobel efforts to get the city back in shape... As for Rendell the man... well, again its clear that Bizzinger sees the guy as a HERO... and uses his entire literary vision to portray him to that extent (presenting his weaknesses only to make him more affably human - - which obviously he was...) I think most Philly residents (except the city workers) are more likely to like the guy and feel that he was a good mayor, but chuckle a bit of Bissinger's "literary glorification" of the man... Still, whether you're from the "Fast Eddie - - don't trust the guy !" school or the "wow, the guy really accomplish some miraculous things," there's one thing that's for sure... The book is an engaging... if not at times heart rendering read... and well worth getting...

Rating:
Summary: A compelling examination of the plight of urban America
Review: When Ed Rendell took office, he promised that he would work overtime to saving Philadelphia. From that moment on, Buzz Bissinger was there to record his successes and failures. His new journalism prose not only tells Rendell's story, but takes the reader through the process by which this once-great American city has withered under the pressures of crime, poverty, drugs, unemployment, and population loss. Bissinger explains, in part, why people leave the city for the suburbs and how the Federal government's urban policy has favored suburban sprawl and encouraged a white flight during the past 50 years. Through the eyes of a ship-yard worker, a dedicated preacher, a city prosecutor, and a hopeful woman who moves to the city in the hope of preserving it, Bissinger adds the voices of common folks to his narrative. But, in the end, the book blends hope and despair. In spite of his efforts, Rendell's work is not enough. A mayor alone cannot save the city, so long as his ideas are held hostage by the recalcitrant forces of greedy unions and politicos who owe their careers to demagoguery and racially divisive politics. Bissinger doesn't pull any punches in this area: he talks not only about corrupt cops, but about the leaders in Philadelphia's ethnic communities who refuse to cooperate with Rendell because they'd rather reap political gain by publicly parting with him. In the end, it is clear that even though Rendell is the hardest working mayor in the city's history, even he can't do enough. It will not only take a reform-minded mayor and administration, but a willing citizenry and a serious alteration in Federal and State policy before we can revitalize the American city. But electing Ed Rendell seems like the best possible start, and a refreshing contrast to the out-of-touch political operatives who regularly grace our newsprint and televisions.