I was eager to read this because I moved to Philadelphia during Ed Rendell's first term and now work for the City. Although I'm glad I read it, I was disappointed.

One issue I had with the book is Bissinger's writing style. He's a good writer, with ability to convey both narrative and characterization, but he suffers from a need to artificially dress up his prose. The metaphors were so frequent (e.g., two in two sentences) that they became intrusive and the resultant artificiality clogged up his prose.

I would have liked a more detailed explanation of the various events that Bissinger described. For all the leadup to the 1992 battle with the unions, I had no sense of how the City accomplished reforms with the FOP, which settled its contract before DC 33 did, the latter which is the main focus of the first quarter of the book. Contracting out was a concession obtained during the negotiations, but there is very little discussion of how this played out, other than to state the amount of savings obtained and to describe a libertarian Mayoral employee's disillusionment with things not going further.

There are other events that are described for which there is no follow-up, which is frustrating. But I have to give credit for the ending, which is bleaker than I expected it to be. I don't want to spoil the ending, but it is a powerful one.

Must-read for my fellow Philadelphians. It was a different city 20 years ago. If you're a politics junky, you'll eat this up. As I'm not, I felt like I was eating broccoli by the end of the book.

first and foremost i think this book sucks because it does not perfectly synthesize an account of philadelphia politics in the nineties grounded in my own personal political opinions and value system. bissinger spends roughly 23% of his time sucking david cohen off and another 12-15% cramming as many metaphors as he can into each and every paragraph. he does a mediocre job of humanizing ed rendell (but not for lack of trying) and condescends to labor movements and minority advocates throughout. overall a shining example of why i will never be a successful critic.

What Bissinger has written is both paean and elegy to the once grand, once thriving American city. The focus is Philadelphia, but the story represents the plight of all the large urban centers across the country - cities whose "revitalized" downtowns are deceptive, "a brocade curtain hiding a crumbling stage set."

It's hard to believe that Ed Rendell, newly elected mayor of Philadelphia, would allow Bissinger to follow him around for four years, giving him access to meetings, policy debates, and personal melt-downs. I am astonished. And I'm inclined to agree with the author's view that Mayor Rendell is "a man unafraid to be human."

Ultimately though, Rendell, and his passion to save Philadelphia, is not what fascinated me the most. What the book did is lift the manhole cover on the political machinations, both good and terrible, that keep government snaking along. Do we need government do help us maintain a civilized society? I think we do, but what a sewer! I admire the noble efforts of politicians who enter this befouled environment in order to make a difference, a better life, for their constituents. What they're up against is beyond description, although Bissinger does justice to the attempt. Poverty, racism, drugs, crime, fear, despair, poor public schools, abandoned factories, little health care, and a culture of public dependence. That's the short list.

Although I found this book seriously depressing, I also came away feeling something of the spirit of confidence and hope that all is not ruined. I admit that I'm deeply cynical about politicians and the legislative process - government policies are so often grossly damaging - but this book makes clear that there are people willing to make painful sacrifices for the greater good.

This book is about the possibilities.

This was certainly an odd choice for me to read while on vacation, i.e. not in Philadelphia, but such is the library hold queue.

The author spent four years embedded in the first administration of Ed Rendell as Philadelphia mayor (1992-95) and wrote about all the highs (rescuing the budget) and lows (losing the Navy Yard). He had total access to Rendell and his chief of staff David Cohen, whom I liked better after reading this book because I've only heard of him as the the chief lobbyist of Comcast, an outright evil job.

I most enjoyed the descriptions of my city and passionate arguments about how federal government policy screwed over urban areas leading to a vicious cycle of failure and flight. What I liked less was Bissinger's writing style, which I thought was florid, sometimes veering into metaphors that I found barely comprehensible. (After Rendell intervenes in cancelled beauty pageant, we learn that "The [contestants] sat in the front row, pretty and prim, the white sashes proclaiming their states running in neat diagonal lines from shoulder to sternum like cellophane wrapping on a piece of processed cheese" [96]. Uh, I know where my sternum is, what is up with these ladies?)

The other thing I found a little disappointing about this book is that it only covers Rendell's first term as mayor and so, in 2016, reads as being unfinished or ending in the middle of the story. I think of Rendell's tenure, overlapping my high school and college years, as the time when the city changed from being a place my family hardly ever went to (despite living 15 miles away) to being a place I wanted to live in. One thing I remember about Rendell is that at the end of his last term in office, he had a reception for people to take pictures with him, an event which went hours overtime because so many people came, such was his popularity. But as for any of the specific achievements of his second term, I don't remember them and they're not covered here.

Thus, I ended up seeing this book more as a vivid time capsule of Philadelphia in the early '90s and a character sketch of Rendell than as a comprehensive history of how the city was turned around. Still, for me, that made it worthwhile.

For understanding the American city

This book could be placed alongside the television series "The Wire" as the sobering tale of why American cities are doomed. Bissinger does more than wade through the politics and bureaucracy of urban areas, he shows the end game - what those politics mean for the citizens who call cities home. Often, its either, too little, too late or both.

While the book chronicles a mayoral term in the early 90s, you could very easily apply the characters and settings to any present-day major metropolitan area in the U.S.

While I haven't been around long enough to witness the decline of the American city (I'm only 26), I could never (and still can't) wrap my mind around why the federal government seems so hell-bent on slowly killing urban areas. That's probably the saddest revelation this book uncovered - no matter how qualified the politicians running cities may be, without the help of the federal government (along with the private sector changing its mindframe), it's never going to be enough.

As a native of the city talked about in this book (Philadelphia), it gave me a newfound respect for Rendell, David Cohen, and even John Street (who for all intensive purposes was an awful Mayor).

I hope before Rendell's day is done, he can use his political skill to help the federal government right the ship in the very same manner he once did while running one of the greatest cities in the U.S.

details of the operations of a unique city and it's unique mayor. details the life and times of ed rendell (then mayor, now governor) and makes you idolize the man- if your a hard working liberal that is. even if you don't like rendell, you'll learn a lot about him and a lot about what has happened to make philadelphia the way it is today.

Bissinger’s book is enthralling: Robert Caro calls it “brilliant and compelling” and the late David Halberstam compared it to J. Anthony Lukas “Common Ground.” Ringing endorsements from the titans of 20th century non-fiction are well-deserved, but A Prayer for the City did not sell like Friday Night Lights. Nor is it required reading for college students learning the basics of 20th century urban history, chronicling a time period that academia has not overly obsessed over, let alone given much attention, but it is time we give Bissinger’s second story the credit it deserves.

https://medium.com/@nrothstein/a-time...

This is a phenomenal read for anyone who is interested in Philadelphia, cities, urban decay, and the intricate inner workings of local politics. It should also serve as a guide to those who think that voting doesn't matter or that all politicians are the same of just how much of a direct impact the decisions of lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels can have on the lives of individuals.

I really enjoyed and learned from this read.

It’s crazy to think about just how much access the Rendell administration gave Buzz. This book is not a page turner — there are parts that are thrilling, but because of the sort of context-laying (often necessary) and statistics included, some parts feel MUCH slower. Some of the language throughout is a reminder that this book was written in the ’90s and not in the best of ways.

There is a lot of drooling over the work ethic, accomplishments, etc. of a particular individual and while they do seem remarkable as a person, it does start to feel repetitive.

I definitely feel a stronger attachment to Philly; a greater appreciation of what local government does, can do, and cannot do; and a sense of dread.

Being put in the room where it happens is pretty cool.

This was a wrenching story of big-city government, Philadelphia slowly being drained of people, money, etc. and the inexhaustive efforts of a spontaneous mayor and his chief of staff. It's amazing cities get anything done in the midst of a whirl of politics.