"Elizabeth Greenspan, an urban anthropologist, vividly recounts the dysfunctional process and controversies that put her favorite graffiti, 'America the Re-build-iful, ' to a grueling test that is only now about to be graded by the public... a valuable and highly accessible primer for everyone who wants to better understand how government works and why it does not." --The New York Times
"Riveting... an engrossing and evolving portrait of unrealized expectations and political gamesmanship...Greenspan's exactingly researched and artistically rendered reportage thoughtfully details its twisting journey upward." --Publishers Weekly
"A must-read study of the power of democracy and shared memory to shape our public spaces." --Kirkus (Starred Review)