American Pharaoh

Critical Praise

"This is a myth-shattering portrait of Mayor Daley the elder. In its revelatory detail, it offers us a canny politician, not especially original or colorful, whose staying power enabled him to outlast all competition. It is an eye-opening work that enthralls the reader from."
-Studs Terkel, author of Working and My American Century

"American Pharaoh is biography at its absolute best. In the spirit of Robert Carol's The Power Broker, this is a story of more than just a man. It is a tale of a tumultuous time, of the corruptibility of power, and of the strengths and frailties of our democracy. Best of all, Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor, who have done an extraordinary job of reporting, know how to spin a good yarn. I read this book on airplanes. I read it late at night. I read it when I should have been working. In short, it held me spellbound."
-Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here and The Other Side of the River

"American Pharaoh is a grand, sweeping profile of Chicago's Richard J. Daley, perhaps the most powerful and irascible mayor in American history. This is political biography at its absolute finest: sprightly prose, dramatic flare, definitive insights, careful research, colorful anecdotes, and a balanced interpretation. Daley leaps off these pages as if he were still alive."
-Douglas Brinkley, Director of the Eisenhower Center and Professor of History, University of New Orleans

"I have read a lot of biographies, but none more compelling than Cohen and Taylor's brilliant portrait of Mayor Richard J. Daley. American Pharaoh is a tour de force."
-William Julius Wilson, author of When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor