Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C. Paperback – April 1, 2014

Jaffe does an excellent job of recounting the hope and promise that many Washingtonians held when Marion Barry was first elected Mayor as part of an grassroots coalition of low-income blacks, liberal whites and a growing gay and lesbian community and how badly that promise was betrayed.There is no doubt the 80's were an awful time for DC. Crack, violence and economic abandonment by the middle class, nearly killed DC. Most major urban centers faced similar problems thanks to Reaganism and white flight but Jaffe clearly documents Barry's compounding of the problems faced by DC through financial irresponsibility(largely due to patronage) incompetent and criminal staff and his growing personal addictions to drug and sex. He documents Barry's failings without demonizing him or resorting to the disguised racism of many of Barry's detractors.It should be added that Barry was recently elected back onto City Council, representing the nearly all black and poverty stricken Ward 8. Many outside DC couldn't believe that DC residents would want this guy back on the City Council, but those folks don't know Ward 8 or Barry's appeal. While DC is booming economically, Ward 8 continued to be ignored by the rest of the city and the Mayor. By voting for Barry against a Mayoral ally, Ward 8 was warning the rest of the city that they will not be ignored.

This book is very well-written, thorough, and engaging, if a bit dry at times. Through covering most of DC's history, focusing mainly on Marion Barry the man and mayor, some important events and decisions are necessarily glossed over. Overall, though, an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand the DC political landscape.The Afterword describing the 20 years following the book's initial publication in 1993 is a nice addition, though not as detailed as previous eras covered. Ending in April 2014, just a few months before Marion Barry's death.One major complaint -- far too many spelling, typographical, and layout errors for such a respectable tome. The publisher needs to hire a better copyeditor to go through this edition line by line. Not sure if this problem is limited to the Kindle version or present in print as well.

This book has a copyright date of 1994, and as someone who moved to the District just after it was published, there were many moments of disconnect when the authors described a version of the city that I moved to that is nothing like the place where I live today. That said, if you love DC or are serious about wanting to understand its political backstory, you have to read this book. When this was published, 14th St was littered with buildings destroyed during or after the 68 riots; they're all razed now, but those 45-year-old ghosts haunt the City Council and and ANCs, and probably will for decades more to come.This is an Important Book, but it's also a very engaging, readable book. You know how the story of young Marion Barry ends, but it's still fascinating to watch each step of his journey of reinvention and rise to power.

Excellent book. But the publisher must have stuck the print version through some sort of scanner with OCR to turn it into an e-book. Almost every page has typos, often humorous. There are random punctuations, spaces, h's come out as b's, e's are o's, etc. After a while you get use to it, but then you get angry because you suspect the publisher is making money off your purchase and they were too lazy and cheap to proof-read it. The new updated epilogue (written in 2014) is understandably free of mistakes.I complained to Amazon and they refunded some of the money, along with a non-committal assurance that they would send me a corrected version at some point in the future. Pretty lame. It definitely makes me think twice about buying older e-books.

This book is a great read for anyone who's ever lived or worked in the nation's capital -- whether for a summer internship or 15-year career. As a millenial living in the Virginia suburbs, I had no idea a city I loved so much had such a dark past. I also enjoyed how the authors used Marion Barry as a backbone, a guiding light through the tumultuous story. I learned a lot about a D.C. celebrity, as well how my favorite neighborhoods came to be. The in-depth reporting makes this the perfect history book. I hope the authors continue to update it with D.C.'s many transformations, because we all know this city is not done reviving itself.

As a DC resident I found it more interesting than most probably would. Marion Barry for understandable reasons dominates the book and at times you forget it's about DC.

Fascinating, well-researched, and well-written deep dive into DC’s evolution, political upheavals, and leaders, especially the controversial Marion Barry. The epilogue spanning the 20 years since the book was first written is poignant and enlightening. I can’t recommend this book enough to anyone who lives or has lived or is moving to the District, or anyone interested in the District’s politics.

As a native Washingtonian ( baby boom generation) I found this book historically interesting. It was on my 'to read' list for a long time. I don't know how interesting this will be if one is not a native of Washington DC. however if you've an interest in the politics of DC and how it got to where it is now, the book is worth the read.