The City

Dialogue drives the gritty action of The City through the tough streets and bare knuckled politics of Chicago in the 1970s. In a reality available only to those who lived it, first time novelist, George Benda, takes you down those streets and through the web of political power in a turbulent era. Shredded by race riots, hung over from the violence of the 1968 Democratic Convention, Chicago in 1976 presented the greatest of leadership challenges. And at that moment its iron fisted leader, Mayor Richard J. Daley, met his end. On this canvas, Benda draws the nuts and bolts of the machinery that made Daley's Chicago run. He uses it to raise questions that everyone living in a democratic society must answer: how does a community best survive and prosper?

Chicago, a city with a history of mob violence and Machine politics, provides a turbulent setting for serious political thought. The genre of philosophical dialogue, long thought to be moribund, comes alive as Chicago's patronage system, the guts of its politics, are laid open to careful, thoughtful analysis. The story of The City, set in 1976 Chicago, boils and twists through those turbulent times. It was an era when basic ideas of democracy, essential elements of human relationships, and even the rules of romance were changing. Probe beyond the media circus surrounding the players at the top of the political heap. Look at the real people making things happen every day. Look at governmental services that seem so mundane they're invisible until they don't work. Reflected you'll see the shapes and colors of real life. Agree or disagree with the conclusions, but The City will make you stop and think about prejudices you have held about how politics works. And about some of the players who have appeared on the stage of political life. This book is about encouraging a renewal of thinking and talking about serious issues, philosophical issues. The City offers a thrilling ride to get there.

George Benda grew up in the Chicago area and studied at the University of Chicago during the 1970s. A lifelong environmentalist, George has led both public agencies and private companies in the pursuit of a sustainable world. His personal mission from his late teen years on has been to create modern philosophical dialogues that will help right the human relationship with our natural world. The City is the first in a series of books tat George has in preparation to fulfill that mission.