“The Power Broker” by Robert Caro could use one, though.
Few books in my life have impressed me in the way of this
one. The life of New York State power broker Robert Moses laid bare.
It’s dense. At 1,162 pages in paperback, I’ve been reading
it since the summer.
I’m an avid, even passionate reader, and I didn’t skim any
of these pages. Indeed, the richness of the prose, the depth of the reporting,
the insight. Fallen out of love with journalism, with journalists? Read “The
Power Broker.”
And here’s the best part. As much as you learn about Robert
Moses, there is so much more to say. Thus the idea of a second volume.
There are more files to dig through that promise a whole
other level of meaning surrounding how and why – and more important, for whose
benefit – decisions were arrived at during the decades that Robert Moses shaped
the urban environment in New York State, from Niagara to Massena to the Bronx
and Staten Island.
Publishers will tell you, of course, that committing to a
book the size of The Power Broker (Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace,
anyone?) is a fool’s errand.
Well, this fool want’s more of it. With material this rich,
the mining should go on, and with it, hopefully a restoration of what it means
to be a journalist. How noble the calling can be.
Next: Running for Your Life: Urban Forestry is Not An
Oxymoron
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