The Streets Were Paved with Gold

By Ken Auletta

How - and why - did one of the world's greatest cities come to be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy? Ken Auletta, writer for THE NEW YORKER and columnist for THE DAILY NEWS, shows how the decline of New York City was partly inevitable --- the result of shifting migration patterns and rapidl technological innovations --- and partly caused by anarchic political and economic factions, each angling for its own advantage. His lucid examination also pinpoints the core of New York City's problems --- the failure of liberal democratic government --- and explores what this will mean for the future of all American cities.

"A tremendously impressive combination of reporting and analysis that illuminates not only New York's situation, but also the most basic trends in the politics and economy of the nation as a whole" - James Fallows, Washington Editor, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY

"Absolute must reading for anyone concerned with New York and the urban future." - George Sternlieb, Director, Centor for Urban Policy Researcch, Rutgers University

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307800718

Ken Auletta

Ken Auletta has written the "Annals of Communications" column and profiles for The New Yorker since 1992. He is the author of eleven books, including Three Blind Mice, Greed and Glory on Wall Street, World War 3.0, and Googled. In naming him America's premier media critic, the Columbia Journalism Review said, "No other reporter has covered the new communications revolution as thoroughly as has Auletta." He lives in Manhattan with his wife and daughter.