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 legislator representing Chicago's South Side…. Windy City's ar ticulate and witty protagonist … must juggle dirty secrets and deal making.”

—USA Today

“Entertaining and well-observed … Simon renders the details and the inner workings of City Hall with wit and aplomb … Simon's Chicagoans may be con artists, crooks, amoral opportunists, or blowhards, sometimes all of the above, but the author still treats them with great affection and respect, creating an impressively large and diverse cast of characters.”

—ADAM LANGER, Chicago Tribune

“[A] great novel … filled with emotional turmoil, gritty political decisions, murders, homicide attempts, a suicide and even a touch of romance … Readers who bleed politics will quickly recognize the 50 diverse wards mentioned throughout the book. But even for the politically clueless, Simon's book reads as a deft introduction to the world of corrupt Chicago electioneering…. While the shelves of local booksellers creak under the weight of books on Chicago politics, Simon offers something different with Windy City: a more human and fully realized portrait of the people caught up in contemporary public life.”

—Time Out Chicago

“A hilarious satirical novel about politics in Chicago.”

—CLARENCE PAGE, Chicago Tribune

“Comic but sneakily affecting … the rich multiculturalism of the American city is not a new phenomenon … rarely, however, has it been depicted with such unabashed affection…. The zeal with which [Scott Simon] celebrates the city, warts and all, is hard to resist. His book is larded with insider bonus features that hard-core Chicago aficionados will delight in … well-served by Simon's choice of hero…. Windy City, for all its emphasis on the sausage-factory venality of big-city politics, seems intended mainly as a big, sloppy valentine to the cultural jambalaya that is 21st-century Chicago … It's good to see the old place shamelessly flattered for a change.”

—The Washington Post Book World

“Pitch-perfect … Scott Simon, NPR host of “Weekend Edition,” knows his way around ward politics…. His dialogue throws off sparks and shrieks like a Chicago El-car. Recommended to all political junkies.”

—The Roanoke Times

“A rather sentimental, positive picture of the democratic process.”

—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“[A] big-hearted bear-hug of a novel … embracing roots and family, ec centricities and failings, and dappled with the sights, sounds and grit of the Windy City—makes this an energizing and loving contemporary urban fable.”

—GO Magazine, AirTran Airways