(no subject)

[raincitygirl]

I had to laugh, because I was reading an article on a Chicago-based website, and there was an ad for lakeside properties in Lake Geneva. I thought that was odd, so clicked on the ad and it turned out to be for real estate in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Which is probably a very nice lake, and judging by the prices of the waterfront properties, it had BETTER be a very nice lake. But the contrast from my expectations of Switzerland to the reality of Wisconsin was quite dramatic.

Speaking of Chicago, does anybody remember a really good book about Chicago and an ex-mayor of theirs? I guess technically it was a biography (unauthorized, natch) of the mayor, but really it was about the corrupt political machine that he headed up. I had to read it for a class years and years ago and it was excellent, but I sold the book back to the university bookstore after I finished the class, and I don't remember the author, or the name of the mayor in question or anything. I'm not even 100% sure it was Chicago, it could've been Pittsburgh or somewhere like that. My google-fu is failing me, so I'm asking the internet for tips.

Edited to add: And ancarett comes through with a name. It's Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago, by Mike Royko.

frenchani has lots of fascinating meta on the most recent episode of Mad Men, but it's wasted on me because I don't watch the show. I tried a few episodes because of YoSaffBridge from Firefly (one of Christina Hendricks's early roles, before she found fame as Joan), but it didn't hook me. But frenchani reliably offers great meta on shows that I do watch, so I rec this anyway.

Comments

[ancarett]

Are you thinking of Royko's "Boss" which focuses on Richard Daley? That's the classic on the Chicago machine. My mom was from Chicago so I know it well. In the nineties, a more nuanced but dryly academic biography came out from Biles: "Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race and the Governing of Chicago."

There's another one that is less Daley centred, called "Grafters and Goo Goos" which goes back to the nineteenth century, showing the endemic levels of corruption in American urban politics.

[raincitygirl]

Looking at the descriptions on Amazon, and having read a sample, I'm positive now that it was "Boss" by Mike Royko. Royko has a distinctive writing style that I remember vividly. Thank you very much!

I didn't know your mother was American. The things you learn.

[twistedchick]

Royko is as good as they come when you want detail about Chicago and corruption. He was a reporter there for years, and a columnist, and I still read his published work with awe at his ability and gratitude for his existence.

[raincitygirl]

That is quite the recommendation. Thanks.