{"product_id":"a-prayer-for-the-city-isbn-9780679744948","title":"A Prayer for the City","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eFriday Night Lights\u003c\/i\u003e, the heart-wrenching and hilarious true story of an American city on its knees and a man who will do anything to save it.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Prayer for the City\u003c\/i\u003e is acclaimed journalist Buzz Bissinger's true epic of Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell, an utterly unique, unorthodox, and idiosyncratic leader willing to go to any length for the sake of his city: take unions head on, personally lobby President Clinton to save 10,000 defense jobs, or wrestle Smiley the Pig on Hot Dog Day—all the while bearing in mind the eternal fickleness of constituents whose favor may hinge on a missed garbage pick-up or an overzealous meter maid. It is also the story of citizens in crisis: a woman fighting ceaselessly to give her great-grandchildren a better life, a father of six who may lose his job at the Navy Shipyard, and a policy analyst whose experiences as a crime victim tempt her to abandon her job and ideals. \"Fascinating, humane\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e) and alive with detail and insight, \u003ci\u003eA Prayer for the City\u003c\/i\u003e describes the rare combination of political courage and optimism that may be the only hope for America's urban centers.Praise for Buzz Bissinger's \u003ci\u003eA Prayer for the City\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003eFinalist for the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"An extraordinary book, an insider's account of the daily workings of a big-city administration.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"A fascinating, humane portrait of the ills of urban America.\" —\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"A full-scale portrait of a struggling American metropolis that brings to mind such classics of urban reportage and analysis as J. Anthony Lukas's \u003ci\u003eCommon Ground\u003c\/i\u003e and Nicholas Lemann's \u003ci\u003eThe Promised Land\u003c\/i\u003e.\" —\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe N\u003ci\u003eew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Brilliant and compelling. \u003ci\u003eA Prayer for the City\u003c\/i\u003e movingly captures the poignancy—the hope and heartbreak—of urban government in America.\" —Robert A. Caro\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There has never been a better portrait of how a big city functions and how one mayor operates to push, pull, and prod the cement of bureaucracy as well as the souls of individual citizens toward a better place. This is actually more of a novel than it is current history, filled with insight and anecdotes that make you feel good about politics and people, too.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Superb. . . . Bissinger's writing, sparse and urgent, always shines.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe Miami Herald\u003c\/i\u003eBuzz Bissinger is the author of \u003ci\u003eA Prayer for the City\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller \u003ci\u003eThree Nights in August\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eFriday Night Lights\u003c\/i\u003e, which has sold almost two million copies to date and spawned a film and a TV series. He is a contributing writer for \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e.Author of the Bestseller Friday Night Lights Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304506151141,"sku":"NP9780679744948","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780679744948.jpg?v=1767720733","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/a-prayer-for-the-city-isbn-9780679744948","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}