Windy City

The acclaimed author of the intensely powerful novel "Pretty Birds," " "Scott Simon now gives us a story that is both laugh-out-loud funny and heart-piercing-as sprawlingand brawling as Chicago, where politics is a contact sport.

The mayor of Chicago is found in his office late at night, sitting in his boxer shorts, facedown dead in a pizza. The mayor was a hero and arascal: dynamic, charming, ingenious, corruptible, and a masterly manipulator. The city mourns. But it's discovered that the mayor was murdered-shortly after he may have begun to squeal on some of hiscolleagues at City Hall. Over the next four days, police race to find the mayor's killer, while the politicians who bemoan his passing scramble for his throne.

At the center is Sundaran"Sunny" Roopini, forty-eight, alderman of the Forty-eighth Ward, and vice-mayor. Sunny is an Indian immigrant, a restaurant owner, and a recent widower. He is getting tired of politics and wants to holdon just long enough to do the best for his two restive teenage daughters. But as acting interim mayor for a few days, Sunny must deal with forty-nine" "other" "aldermen who have their ownclashing ambitions.

How will Sunny do what's best for both his family and city in a time of crisis?

As The Last Hurrah embodied urban politics for a previous generation, "WindyCity "captures politics in the multiethnic tumult of today's big city, where a stalled subway raises fears of a terrorist attack and smoke-filled rooms are abolished by no-smoking statutes. The storytakes a raft of colorful characters-pinky-ringed pols, pious reformers, money-grubbers, and wheeler-dealers of every creed, color, and proclivity-through City Hall corridors, neighborhood restaurantsand clubs, weddings, sex scandals, gospel churches, police stations, and sting operations to deliver an ending that is unexpectedly noble.

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Windy City" is a roller coaster of a novelthat dips and soars through the amusement park of politics. With echoes of" Primary Colors" and" Thank You for Smoking," "Windy City" will win votes as the best politicalnovel in many years. Its personal story-about a flawed, decent man thrust suddenly under hot lights-will also win hearts.

Praise for Windy City:

"Delectable... Offers an insider's view of the kind of urban political fray-albeit fictional-that Barack Obama emerged from as an Illinois state legislatorrepresenting Chicago's South Side...." Windy City's" articulate and witty protagonist ... must juggle dirty secrets and dealmaking..."-"USA Today

""Comic but sneakily affecting... The rich multiculturalism of the American cityis not a new phenomenon... rarely, however, has it been depicted with such unabashed affection... The zeal with which he celebrates the city, warts and all, is hard to resist.. Simon's choice ofhero...is an immensely appealing figure."-"Washington Post Book World"

"Pitch-perfect... Scott Simon, NPR host, knows hisway around politics... His dialogue throws off sparks and shrieks like a Chicago El-car...Recommended to all political junkies."-"The Roanoke Times"(Virginia)

"A hilarious satirical novel about politics."-Clarence Page, "The Chicago