This novel is perfectly timed to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair, and in an election year to boot. It's a thoroughly enjoyable look at life in Seattle in 1962 and 2001, the booms and busts, with entrepreneurs and developers selling their outsized ideas to the world, from the Space Needle to the Gates Foundation. Likeable characters balance precariously between the excitement and trepidation of having the world's focus for a few months in 1962, and in 2001, a Pulitzer-hungry reporter tries to unearth a 40-year-old scandal. Now that I've read it, I'm inspired to read more about the fair and take a walk through Seattle Center.
