Most cities have tales of rises and falls, yet if the stories aren't glamorous or notorious, only their citizens want to hear them. Moody's tale of Seattle bucks that trend. Editor of the Seattle Weekly
and a Washington State native, Moody combines historical background and individual experience for a funky mix of personal reflection and fascinating urban tales. Although the author jumps from one subject to another, his writing style packs as much humor and easy flow as a Kurt Cobain tune. With crisp phrasing and love for a good quote, he describes a city that has weathered not just Nirvana and Microsoft, but also characters like Ivar Haglund, a boisterous seafood purveyor who thought up slogans like "Keep Clam." Moody begins his ruminations with the 1999 WTO riots and explains how Seattle's ignorance, self-absorption and blind self-importance fueled an already explosive situation. Although it's obvious he has deep affection for his home, Moody doesn't sport rose-colored glasses. He self-deprecatingly details his lack of ambition in the late 1970s, a quality shared by many Seattleites. As Bill Gates made the '80s into a software whirlwind and grunge began seeping in a decade later, Moody navigates the city's changes with awe and suspicion. He slams Seattle for a backward attitude about immigration, poorly planned initiatives and coldness toward the homeless and the disenfranchised. Yet this is indeed a love story. Moody feels for Seattle the way one might love a relative who has a good heart but does some truly asinine things, despite some ire, he akes that relative worth knowing. Agent, Nat Sobel. (Sept.)
