The Mayor: One Poor City’s Fight to Bring Back Government and Save the Nation’s Soul
Dec 2026 · Sold by St. Martin's Press
Ebook
320
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
infoThis book will become available on December 1, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
"Refreshing and hopeful." ―Booklist
"Gripping...A mesmerizing tribute to the transformative power of community." ―Kirkus, starred
The author of The Hospital asks: Can one challenged city show the way to restore faith in government and reimagine the nation’s future?
Chester, PA, a majority Black city just south of Philadelphia, is plagued by gun violence, decrepit infrastructure, a hospital at risk of closing, and a scary reputation. After more than a century of mismanagement, people have lost all faith in government.
Stefan Roots, a wastewater plant operator, wants to do something to clean it up. So he runs for mayor with an unlikely cast of political aides: a former kid drug dealer, a one-time hip-hop impresario, a white evangelical graduate student, and a wealthy white business man. Can these neophytes save the soul of the city, restore faith, and set an example for the nation? Brian Alexander argues that the problems Chester faces have germinated over a century of political malfeasance, and the deification of market capitalism. Now, these forces are doing to the rest of the country what they did to Chester long ago as inequality, privatization, and unrestrained profit-seeking spread, wrecking communities and delivering Trump.
Alexander also tracks a quixotic former state legislator in Maine, West Virginia’s only elected transgender office holder, and a young Black Democratic Socialist in a well-to-do and mostly white Philadelphia suburb as they struggle to, and sometimes succeed in, reversing the tide. At times ripping, tragic, and hopeful, The Mayor is extraordinarily timed to illuminate our current crises while offering a way forward.
"Gripping...A mesmerizing tribute to the transformative power of community." ―Kirkus, starred
The author of The Hospital asks: Can one challenged city show the way to restore faith in government and reimagine the nation’s future?
Chester, PA, a majority Black city just south of Philadelphia, is plagued by gun violence, decrepit infrastructure, a hospital at risk of closing, and a scary reputation. After more than a century of mismanagement, people have lost all faith in government.
Stefan Roots, a wastewater plant operator, wants to do something to clean it up. So he runs for mayor with an unlikely cast of political aides: a former kid drug dealer, a one-time hip-hop impresario, a white evangelical graduate student, and a wealthy white business man. Can these neophytes save the soul of the city, restore faith, and set an example for the nation? Brian Alexander argues that the problems Chester faces have germinated over a century of political malfeasance, and the deification of market capitalism. Now, these forces are doing to the rest of the country what they did to Chester long ago as inequality, privatization, and unrestrained profit-seeking spread, wrecking communities and delivering Trump.
Alexander also tracks a quixotic former state legislator in Maine, West Virginia’s only elected transgender office holder, and a young Black Democratic Socialist in a well-to-do and mostly white Philadelphia suburb as they struggle to, and sometimes succeed in, reversing the tide. At times ripping, tragic, and hopeful, The Mayor is extraordinarily timed to illuminate our current crises while offering a way forward.
"Refreshing and hopeful." ―Booklist
"Gripping...A mesmerizing tribute to the transformative power of community." ―Kirkus, starred
The author of The Hospital asks: Can one challenged city show the way to restore faith in government and reimagine the nation’s future?
Chester, PA, a majority Blac...
Discover more
About the author
BRIAN ALEXANDER, the author of Glass House and The Hospital and winner of the Ohioana Book Awards, is a contributing writer to The Atlantic. He’s written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Esquire, among others. He’s spoken at The Obama Foundation Summit, and in Washington to members of the Senate and House of Representatives. He lives in San Diego.
BRIAN ALEXANDER, the author of Glass House and The Hospital and winner of the Ohioana Book Awards, is a contributing writer to The Atlantic. He’s written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Esquire, among others. He’s spoken at The Obama Foundation Summit, and in Washington to members of t...
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
