Golden: How Rod Blagojevich Talked Himself out of the Governor's Office and into Prison
*Starred Review* The story of the disgraced Illinois governor who sold the U.S. Senate seat of President Obama is well known, another fading chapter in the long history of corruption in the state. Chicago reporters Coen and Chase impart more inside knowledge than the national press has. They offer a nuanced context of political corruption overlaid with Blagojevich’s extraordinarily flamboyant personality, from the profanity to the hair obsession and outsize ego. Drawing on interviews and trial transcripts, Coen and Chase provide a fast-paced and probing recollection of the rise and fall of Blagojevich and the behind-the-scene deal making that brought him down. The son of Serbian immigrants, he advanced on the strength of his charm and personality, aided by his marriage to the daughter of a powerful alderman. Colorful characters and political chicanery and manipulation add to the detailed drama of the pay to play scheme to sell Obama’s seat to the highest bidder that entangled Blagojevich and other Illinois politicians, including Jesse Jackson Jr. The scheme was part of a long résumé of scandalous behavior, including doling out state contracts in exchange for campaign contributions. The authors go beyond the disgrace of Blagojevich (sentenced to 14 years) to ask broader questions about how the system produces such people and why citizens elect them. --Vanessa Bush