{"product_id":"dirty-waters-confessions-of-chicagos-last-harbor-boss-chicago-visions-and-revisions-9780226826929","title":"Dirty Waters Confessions of Chicagos Last Harbor","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA wry, no-holds-barred memoir of Nelson's time controlling some of Chicago'smost beautiful spots while facing some of its ugliest traditions.    In 1987, the city of Chicago hired a former radical college chaplain to clean up rampant corruption on the waterfront. R. J. Nelson thought he was used to the darker side of the lawhe had been followed by federal agents and wiretapped due to his antiwar stances in the sixtiesbut nothing could prepare him for the wretched bog that constituted the world of a Harbor Boss. Dirty Waters is the wry, no-holds-barred memoir of Nelson's time controlling some of the city's most beautiful spots while facing some of its ugliest traditions. Nelson takes us through Chicago's beloved blue spaces and deep into the city's political morass, revealing the different moralities underlining three mayoral administrations and navigating the gritty mechanisms of the city's political machine. Ultimately, Dirty Waters is a tale of morality, of what it takes to be a force for good in the world and what struggles come from trying to stay ethically afloat in a sea of corruption. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Is it the water in Lake Michigan that makes Chicago such a politically corrupt city? That might sound like an outlandish theory, but R. J. Nelson’s \u003ci\u003eDirty Waters: Confessions of Chicago’s Last Harbor Boss\u003c\/i\u003e makes a compelling case. . . . There’s a certain Chicagoness to Nelson’s storytelling that’s highly entertaining—the book reads like a series of anecdotes being told by a lifelong resident of the city.” * Chicago Reader *\u003cbr\u003e“Fascinating.” * Library Journal *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An entertaining, insightful work on the way things worked in Chicago.\"\u003c\/p\u003e * Choice *\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eDirty Waters\u003c\/i\u003e is a revealing insider’s tale of a Harold Washington–era reformer battling for change. It tells the stories behind the headlines of the ‘Last Harbor Boss’ of the Chicago Park District. It is written for those who want to know how government really works and how a former protestor, college chaplain, and college administrator opened up the green space and blue space of Chicago and made a cumbersome bureaucracy work for us. Students, scholars, and citizens will read it avidly and celebrate the often unsung heroes of reform.” -- Dick Simpson, professor of political science at University of Illinois at Chicago and former Chicago alderman\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eDirty Waters \u003c\/i\u003eis an insider’s account of what has become known as the ‘Chicago Way,’ the corruption at the very heart of the city’s political machine. This book is an honest, fascinating, and often startling story of how politics, bribery, and just plain ineptitude often plagued the ‘City that Works.’” -- Dominic A. Pacyga, author of Slaughterhouse: Chicago's Union Stock Yard and the World It Made\u003cbr\u003e“A joy to read. Nelson’s achievements are undeniable, detailed with good if rough humor. He declared war on the age-old system of gratuities and outright bribes that had maintained the Harbor’s operations in harmony with the citywide culture of ‘where’s mine?’ The results of this campaign are recounted in a feisty, highly entertaining fashion.” -- James T. Fisher, Fordham University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Figures\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Dawn City\u003cbr\u003e Harbors as Neighborhoods\u003cbr\u003e Harbor Rats\u003cbr\u003e A Boat Slip and Fall\u003cbr\u003e Feet Wet\u003cbr\u003e Harold\u003cbr\u003e Rainbows and Riots\u003cbr\u003e Indictments\u003cbr\u003e April Fools\u003cbr\u003e Harbor Fire\u003cbr\u003e Sand Traps\u003cbr\u003e Wulky\u003cbr\u003e Moving on Up\u003cbr\u003e Fog Bowl\u003cbr\u003e D-Day\u003cbr\u003e Batman\u003cbr\u003e Paul McCartney\u003cbr\u003e Golf Dome from Hell\u003cbr\u003e MBE\/WBE\u003cbr\u003e “Lakefront’s Small Wonder”\u003cbr\u003e A Coast Guard Station Restored\u003cbr\u003e A Reporter Falls Overboard\u003cbr\u003e Tagline Contest\u003cbr\u003e Daley’s Underground River\u003cbr\u003e A Tale of Two Conventions\u003cbr\u003e From Malcolm X to Mohammed Ali\u003cbr\u003e So Sad, Too Bad\u003cbr\u003e Glatt\u003cbr\u003e Afterglow\u003cbr\u003e Filan Report\u003cbr\u003e Basement Dreams\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Afterword\u003cbr\u003e Notes","brand":"The University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400134664535,"sku":"9780226826929","price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780226826929.jpg?v=1730469841","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/dirty-waters-confessions-of-chicagos-last-harbor-boss-chicago-visions-and-revisions-9780226826929","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}