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Permanent link to: <br /><br /><a href="http://www.chrisboylan.com/blog/archives/000230.php">Book Review</a>

<p>For the last six months or so, I have been plodding through one 1200 page book.</p>

<p>The book:<br />
<u>The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York</u> by Robert A. Caro.</p>

<p>The quick review:<br />
This book is hands down, <strong>the best book I have read in my life</strong>!</p>

<p>The long review:<br />
To come. I will be posting ideas and points that I enjoyed over the next week or so. <br />
Basically, it's the story of government and politics in the State and City of New York between 1920 and 1970. This story cannot be told without the man who helped make this country the traffic-jam-ridden, mass transit deprived place it is today and is almost solely responsible for the ghetto neighborhoods in New York City. That is: Robert Moses. He also built almost every bridge and tunnel in NYC and New York State along with the vast majority of parks, especially throughout Long Island.</p>

<p>Two cool facts found in this book:<br />
1) Robert Moses, creator of the parkway - never drove a car in his life.<br />
2) Central Park used to have a casino.</p>

<p>To wrap it up for now, I will leave you with one of the reviews on the back cover of the book. It is in my mind, the most complimentary review humanly possible.</p>

<p>"The feverish hype that dominates the merchandising of arts and letters in America has so debased the language that, when a truly exceptional achievement comes along, there are no words left to praise it. Important, awesome, compelling -- These no longer summon the full flourish of trumpets this book deserves. It is extraordinary on many levels and certain to endure."<br />
-- William Greider, <em>The Washington Post Book World</em></p>

<p>Someday, I want it said that something I have done is so great that words themselves lack the capability of properly praising it. Now, <em>that</em> is a review.</p>