I think I have a thing for books like this and want to read more of them.
I visited Kansas City twice. It was fine. Unmemorable. I mean, I didn’t dislike it. I just didn’t get a good grasp for it.
And I don’t think I have an east coast snob’s bias against midwestern cities. I enjoyed my time in Cincinnati and Indianapolis respectively. I just didn’t find much going on in KC outside of great barbecue and the excellent Negro League Hall of Fame.
But as Patrick Mahomes has turned the Kansas City Chiefs into the center of the football universe, I was fascinated with the notion of a book that looks at the rise of his career vis-a-vis the history (good and bad) of Kansas City. With all of the good reviews it received, I couldn’t resist.
Yeah I loved it.
It does a great job covering Mahomes’ rise and the Chiefs ascension but what the writers excel at is how it links KC history with all of that. I learned a lot about buildings and development but the meat of it focuses on Kansas City’s predictably racist housing patterns and highway building, its devastation of a vibrant Black middle class and culture, and the impact of how it all lingers. When I read about someone like Mahomes or Paul Rudd being in a particular place in a particular moment, it was enlightening to see the connections.
And as someone who has lived his entire life in or around American cities, I’ve always been partial to their histories and what makes them unique because it helps us understand them today.
You have to have similarly competent writers like this book did but it worked here and I enjoyed it.