I mean, I probably could have read a whole book on the infrastructure and city management of South Bend, but I'm also a niche audience as far as that goes. ( )

Probably 3.5 stars. I was strangely drawn into to this story. Politics is not my thing, but I like Buttigieg's story of his upbringing and his practical approach to governing. Points off for not mentioning that Cincinnati is really the city with the smartest sewers - South Bend learned all about Smart Sewers from the really smart people at MSD in my fair city. ( )

If anyone has been following the democratic field for 2020, then you are aware of the recent buzz around Mayor Pete and it’s been interesting listening to his ideas. While I’m not someone who actually reads the candidates’ books when they are running for office, I wanted to read this one because I wanted to know his story. And the other thing that interested me was that this is part memoir and part his experience as the Mayor of a small city, not a manifesto of his policies for the campaign. I opted for the audiobook and his pleasant narration definitely makes for a nice listening experience.

Maybe I’m not the right person, but I feel lot of readers will find his story relatable. The only son of two middle class professor parents born in a city which is on a downward trajectory, growing up listening to its erstwhile glory days and watching the proof in the form of abandoned factories and decaying homes. This is probably the story of many towns and cities in America which lost manufacturing jobs due to globalization and have been struggling to find a way forward. And that’s what Pete tries to show through his story. Like many in his position, he left his hometown to pursue his studies at Harvard, then onwards to Oxford, worked in Chicago while traveling to different countries - but ultimately it was his love for public service that made him come back home and want to do something for the place that he loved so much.

The way he writes his story, especially about his campaigning and his subsequent job as mayor is a very refreshing take on how politics plays out ultimately at the local level where the impact is much more personal. His idea of bringing data driven, technologically advanced governance to his city, collaborating with the students of Notre Dame for some of these initiatives and bring more investments - all of which managed to bring down the unemployment levels from double the national average to the same as the country is definitely a commendable achievement. In between all this, he also talks about the daily challenges and sometimes, hilarious or equally sad issues that he has to face as the mayor, where most issues have to be handled on a very personal level. I loved the way he talks about the efficiency of solving issues vs being more timely, the differences between using data driven methods vs relying on the intuition of people who are experts in their fields, the importance of considering the moral exceptions when making decisions - all of his thought processes show us the picture of a very intellectual person who is not afraid to ask himself the tough questions. His very thoughtful pondering about having survived his Afghanistan deployment while others didn’t and wanting to live a better life because of this experience show a very mature and sensitive human being.

Among all this story about his growing up and his politics, is his decision about coming out. Being from a liberal family in a conservative state, it’s probably not surprising that it took being in his early 30s and being deployed to make him want to live a more truthful and fulfilling life, leading him to come out by writing an op ed in the local newspaper in the midst of his re-election campaign. The chapter where he describes his decision to date for the first time ever, navigating the online dating scene and meeting the love of his life Chasten is wonderful. Their first date story is absolutely adorable and his narration totally reflected the happiness he was feeling while talking about it. But all through the book, it shows that he doesn’t want his gay identity to be the only defining point about his politics and wants to be judged based on his policy positions, achievements and qualifications.

Being from conservative Indiana (also referred to as flyover country), he brings a perspective that local and state politics are equally important for the growth of the Democratic Party and that the establishment should do more, and not less to ensure that the voices of the liberal voters in red states must also be heard. Obviously, it’s not easy to agree with his position that we should engage and empathize with the people who voted for Trump despite the immensely racist politics, but it’s probably reflective of his experience of having to work across partisan lines and even along with VP Pence to ensure the development of his city of South Bend. I don’t know how this will play out in the primary against a more growing progressive voter base but let’s wait and watch.

If you have been impressed by Mayor Pete’s ideas and want to know more about where he comes from and his story, you should checkout this book. And I highly recommend the audiobook because his voice is perfect for his story and he brings a certain warmth and emotion to the narration. Just keep in mind that this book is more about his work till date and his ideas and values rather than a roadmap for his presidential aspirations. And I certainly am looking forward to his campaign and all of the other democratic primary contenders. ( )

It would be wonderful to live in a country where Mayor Pete (of South Bend, Indiana) could be elected President. He is smart, sincere, dedicated, diligent, caring, and truly interested in making things better for all his constituents. Growing up in an academic Midwest family, he graduated from Harvard, became a Rhodes Scholar (with a prestigious First from Oxford), worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. before moving into politics: first, in a unsuccessful bid for Indiana State Treasurer, then a successful bid for mayor of a failing city. Pete rolled up his sleeves and began to address issues like high unemployment, abandoned houses, sewer improvement, and many other issues. And, along the way, he joined the Naval Reserve, working in Intelligence in Afghanistan for seven months. His book is filled with funny stories and his decision to speak openly about his sexuality, culminating in finding his soulmate, Chasten. I hope his triumph following failure pattern continues, after his failed bid to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Recommended.

P.S. There is supposed to be an important announcement on April 14th. ( )

I'm not one to gobble up celebrity (political or otherwise) autobiographies, but after Jill Lepore in the New Yorker said this was one of the two best of the current bunch - and after I'd been pretty impressed with Pete Buttigieg's articulate, thoughtful presence in several interviews - I gave it a shot. And... the man can write. Maybe the opening paragraphs are a little too much "glow," "illuminated," "luminous" ambiance, but, okay, let's give it a chance. And it works. We hear the steadying voice throughout of a good-hearted, widely educated on top of natively smart, hard-working man who is eager to learn and to serve. He admits freely to what others see as his shortcomings (mostly that he was born too recently to know much), a certain naivete, and sometimes paying too much attention to the wrong things. He has an endearing self-deprecating wit, and you feel like this is a guy you would trust to listen to your troubles, to look after your dog, and be earnest and polite to your parents.

He also has a lovely way of telling you the details about things like the difference between running for statewide office and the mayor's office: running locally, he says, means everyone knows you're in town. And if someone "invite[s] you to a chili cook-off, and you choose to go to someone else's corn and sausage roast, they will find out...and they will remember." I've never read elsewhere such a vivid, entertaining, and exhausting description of what a candidate actually *does* all day when campaigning, including endless food activities that sometimes end with "a few minutes' unscheduled pause to change clothes after a pierogi malfunction sent globs of cheese and cabbage onto the front of my blue shirt." And he cheerfully explains that a name like his is no problem in northern Indiana politics, listing local officials named Niezgodski, Wesolowski, Kostielny, and - triumphantly - Przybysz, "pronounced something like 'sheepish' and spelled without the involvement of a single vowel."

He hits the most popular media points of his bio: his military service, his experiences as a devoted mayor laboring (largely successfully) to nurture some life and growth in a deeply damaged community, and his love story. For the most part, you will not find political / governmental policy details, but a gentle review of the life experiences that shaped his beliefs and values and a ferocious work ethic - the foundation upon which he consciously tries to build his professional decisions.

What a nice change that would be. ( )