Song of the City

the long version

"In this account, Nathaniel Popkin brings the streets to life. Using anecdotes about the neighborhoods and people of one city, Philadelphia, he gives us a sense of the city and the force it has on its residents. We meet a young man who, as a teenager, was shot, married, and had two children but goes on to a successful career as a rap artist and magazine publisher; two urban pioneer artists who change the face of a dilapidated neighborhood; a woman who was sexually assaulted but whose community gathers her up, supporting her through the difficult months and years that follow; and Sudanese and Puerto Rican immigrants who make their new city their own both physically and emotionally.". "Popkin examines the different ways that people have inherited, adapted to, and altered the living city. He shows how the virtues of city life are integral to the success of American democracy. Delivered in four sections that analyze the life cycle of the city, Song of the City explores the symbiotic relationship between a city and its people. In a style redolent with the poetry and chaotic energy of the city itself, Song of the City is a loving tribute to the thriving American urban landscape and its people."--BOOK JACKET.