Angela Alioto, a former member of the San Francisco board of supervisors and two-time mayoral candidate, has not written a politician's memoir, although Straight to the Heart draws upon her experiences in city and state politics. Instead, using the nine circles of Hell from Dante's Inferno as her model, she takes readers on a guided tour of the political system and its most egregious sinners.
Many of the examples are drawn from San Francisco politics, but they speak to broader concerns about issues such as corruption and public health, which affect all communities. She writes passionately about the dangerous influence that power-hungry coalitions and corporate groups such as the tobacco industry wield over governments at every level. She also discusses frankly what we, as citizens, can do to make the system better by getting involved.
From Library Journal
Alioto, the daughter of former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, served four terms as a city supervisor from 1989 to 1997. She uses Dante's Inferno as a metaphor to portray the political world in San Francisco, where she battled frequently with established political power networks. Alioto descends with the reader through the Circles of Hell, describing the political failings of the inhabitants of the circles, from the twilight of the Outer Circle where, she thinks, the politically uncommitted reside to the frozen depths of the lowest circles that Alioto reserves for tobacco industry representatives and politicians who accept their contributions. In this impassioned defense of her years of public service, Alioto pulls no punches in condemning those who tried to thwart her progressive programs. Because of the local nature of the subject matter, her book will have limited interest outside California.?Jill Ortner, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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