In his second novel, the host of National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition
paints a detailed portrait of Chicago politics, beginning with the sudden death of the mayor. The focus quickly shifts to Indian vice-mayor Sunny Roopini, who must assuage a traumatized electorate while laying down a few paving stones for the mayor’s successor. Matters are further complicated when the police discover deadly amounts of liquid nicotine on the late mayor’s pizza, a revelation that inspires a mayoral staffer to leap from his apartment window. Roopini’s brief interim mayorship proves to be a minefield of favors, accommodations and downright extortion—the latter by a U.S. Attorney determined to dig up any ethical hiccup he can. The suffocating political life is enough to beckon Roopini toward retirement (particularly with his two daughters on the cusp of adulthood), but the city doesn’t seem willing to let him go. The proceedings can be fascinating, but Simon is too attached to his (admittedly impressive) descriptive powers, dragging the narrative through a swamp of mannerisms, fashion sketches, culinary processes and (especially) political maneuvering. Politics junkies will get off on the detail, but readers with less than a passing interest in the sausage-making that goes on at City Hall may be frustrated. (Mar.)
