The City Is Up for Grabs

The City Is Up for Grabs is a fun book. It’s a light read, barely 200 pages long, that covers Lori Lightfoot’s single term as Mayor of Chicago. It’s packed with the kind of juicy gossip that’s quietly traded between city hall staffers, and features some incredible, hilarious quotes (read: Jeanette Taylor).

Pratt does a good job providing the historical and institutional context needed to understand the events, people, and power struggles of Lightfoot’s tenure. It’s clear that he’s been around awhile and knows city hall and its players well. I liked getting the inside scoop on pivotal meetings and learning about the relationships between alders.

That said, this book has some major flaws. Its analysis of Lightfoot’s character is as deep as a puddle (she’s a fighter!) and comes off as pure Kremlinology. The details of her thinking are filled in by those around her, since Pratt didn’t get a 1-1 interview after she left office. It’s also subtlety one-sided and reads as deferent to the views of whoever would talk with reporters (see chapters on budget, CTU negotiations).

Pratt also seems vaguely self-absorbed throughout the book, inserting himself or his thinking into the narrative unnecessarily. For example:

My least favorite part of the job is watching wannabes float their names. A lot of people just like attention or haven’t thought the dynamics through, and fizzle - but not before getting a few headlines for themselves and wasting my time. (p. 184)

There were enough of these weird self-inserts that I genuinely started to skip ahead any time the book switched to first person.

However, The City Is Up for Grabs is still worth reading, especially if you’re involved in Chicago or Cook County government. Just know what you’re getting into; this isn’t The Power Broker or even A Prayer for the City, it’s a compilation of gossip wrapped in useful context. Sometimes that’s all you need a book to be.