Podcast
99% Invisible
The book was praised for its lasting impact over 50 years, reshaping public perception of Robert Moses and showcasing Caro's exhaustive research, though Caro cut hundreds of thousands of words because of physical binding limits.
In the 50 years since The Power Broker was published, the book has endured in ways that few biographies have.
— Episode: Roman, Elliott, and Robert Caro: Live in...
Episode: Roman, Elliott, and Robert Caro: Live in Conversat...
The book was praised for its lasting impact over 50 years, reshaping public perception of Robert Moses and showcasing Caro's exhaustive research, though Caro cut hundreds of thousands of words because of physical binding limits.
In the 50 years since The Power Broker was published, the book has endured in ways that few biographies have.
First and foremost, it completely upended how the public viewed the former New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses.
The New York Historical Society holds Robert Caro's archives, which include his research for The Power Broker, as well as the papers for his four-volume biography of President Lyndon Johnson.
Caro often says that he cut 350,000 words around a third of his initial draft of The Power Broker, partly because the publisher could not bind a book that would hold that many pages.
Well, you know, I was expecting the book wouldn't sell very many copies.