This book was written in Detroit, where I lived during the last half of 1988 and, again, for several months of 1989. It is a personal account, based on people I met, things I saw and events in which I participated.
During the course of my stay in Detroit, I interviewed hundreds of people. In most cases it was impractical to use a tape recorder. I took notes or, on some occasions, reconstructed conversations from memory. Thus, the quotes in this book are not, for the most part, stenographic reproductions; some have been edited for length, others are close approximations. In every case, however, they are accurate reflections of what people actually said.
This book could not have been written without the help of a great many people. Foremost among them are two good friends: Arthur Samuelson, who provided encouragement and expert advice at a critical juncture, and Gary Baumgarten, one of America’s finest reporters, who gave me my first lessons on the city of Detroit. I would also like to thank Joseph Colten, Doug Ross, Beatrice Buck, Bob Berg, Chauncey Bailey, David Lawrence, Max Silk, Gary Miller, Cassandra Smith-Gray, Gerald Clark, Fred Williams, Dave Scott, Doron Levine, Steve Franklin, Sue Smock, Irving Bluestone, Nimrod Rosenthal, Bill McGraw, Linda Jones and Janis Goldstein for their generous assistance. I would also like to thank the many Detroiters and suburbanites who shared their insights about their city and their lives. All of them made a contribution to my understanding of Detroit, but, naturally, none is responsible for the finished product.
I want to thank my agent, Esther Newberg of ICM, who helped save this project at a very difficult juncture. And I particularly want to thank David Rosenthal, my editor at Random House, who believed in this book and made it possible.