Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: American Pharaoh: Richard J. Daley: His Battle for Chicago and the Nation by Adam Elizabeth/Cohen Taylor ISBN: 0-316-83403-3 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: May, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.7 (33 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A truly great book, worth reading
Comment: I picked up this book after reading the very positive review in the Sunday New York Times. I knew little about Daley beyond the 1968 Convention. The authors succeed at telling the story not only of this one very intriguing man but also of how the modern city of Chicago emerged during his two decades in office. I would highly recommend the book to anyone interested in biography or modern American history, or of course, Chicago. The book is heavily sourced, both to local news accounts -- something which has been inexplicably criticized by other reviewers in this column -- as well as over a hundred interviews conducted by the authors (e.g., William Daley, Daniel Rostenkowski). This is a praiseworthy and fascinating effort by the writers to tell the story as it happened, not as various political or religious viewpoints would like it to be told.
Rating: 4
Summary: Unanswered Questions
Comment: Born and raised in Chicago, I have always been fascinated by the personal life and public career of Richard J. Daley, arguably the city's greatest mayor whose son Richard now serves in that office. Years ago, in his book about Daley, Mike Royko suggested at least some of the parameters within which Cohen and Taylor now analyze "The Boss." They provide a wealth of information. I would have rated this biography higher had the authors probed more deeply into much of that material inorder to answer so many questions I still have about Daley.
For example, what do Daley's successes and failures as a public servant reveal about the political and social worlds in which they occurred? During the years he served as mayor, could he have achieved these same successes without maintaining absolute control of the city's political system? What did Daley share in common with those in control of the Chicago syndicate? To what extent were there strategic alliances with them? Why? If Daley was as corrupt as so many have claimed, why has no incontrovertible evidence of that corruption been presented?
The authors have much to say about Daley's relationship with Chicago's black community. This was an uneasy, at times hostile relationship. To what extent was Daley's leadership as mayor a reflection of the community (Bridgeport) in which he was born and raised? Did he hate blacks? Did he fear them? Or is there another explanation of his attitude toward them? Ancient pharaohs were on occasion benevolent to those whom they viewed as inferior as were, more recently, plantation owners in the Deep South. Perhaps Cohen and Taylor had this in mind when they selected their title.
As I recall Daley, he was a master of negotiation when seeking to achieve his objectives but never hesitated to be ruthless whenever it served his purposes. As county chairman, he once summoned an immensely popular incumbent mayor to his office and then, after letting him cool his heals, informed him that he would not seek re-election. Daley was now ready to assume that office. I wish the authors had been more objective when analyzing what I would characterize as Daley's pragmatism.
These are some of the questions which American Pharaoh raises in my mind. Perhaps there will be other books (yet to be written) which attempt to answer them. Nonetheless, I am grateful to Cohen and Taylor for helping me to understand better than I did before one of the 20th century's most fascinating political leaders.
Rating: 4
Summary: Darn good with one flaw
Comment: A great book with contents delivered in a clear, concise writing style. It reads so fluidly, one can forget he/she is learning history while riding along with a fascinating narrative. I very much enjoyed it and learned a great deal from the exhaustive research that obviously went into the project.
My only criticism, however, keeps me from giving five stars: the co-authors seem obsessed with housing and perceived racism issues in Chicago - at times to the extent that Daley is almost forgotten in their drive to bring home a point. If this is where their academic background is based that is fine, but the reader deserves to know this going in instead of being advertised a full one volume biography type of study. This was an occasional distraction, but one that usually ended soon enough with a paragraph break - welcomed with a 'whew, glad we got back on track'- from this reader.
All in all, a fine book very much worth your time, but be advised not quite what it might seem.
 |
Title: Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago by Mike Royko ISBN: 0452261678 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: October, 1988 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City 1946-1996 by Frederick Allen ISBN: 1563522969 Publisher: Longstreet Press Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
 |
Title: Double Cross: Japanese Americans in Black and White Chicago by Jacalyn D. Harden ISBN: 0816640440 Publisher: Univ of Minnesota Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: American Project by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh ISBN: 0674008308 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945 by Thomas A. Guglielmo ISBN: 0195155432 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
