Mayor watching and other pleasures

Writings from the New Yorker from longtime staff writer Philip Hamburger. Selections include a profile of NY mayor Robert Wagner. Also included is an essay on Gracie Mansion and it's occupants from about 1938 to 1950. Hamburger apparently lived directly across from the mansion--the official home of NYC mayors. Also in the volume are long profiles of Oscar Hammerstein II and Arturo Toscanini. Hamburger has a relaxed writing style that hold up well.