Three Men in a Room (Gotham Gazette Books) November 29, 2006

http://www.gothamgazette.com/books
"As you probably already know, the Gotham Gazette is reading Three Men in a Room in November -- one state senator's account of how poorly the government in Albany functions. As you also know, the government is Albany is changing, or at the people who are in charge of it are. So we've added another guest to our meeting on November 29th.
Brooke Masters, the author of Spoiling for a Fight, a new biography of governor-elect Eliot Spitzer, will join Seymour Lachman, the author of Three Men in a Room. We'll be discussing how Albany works, and how that might change. The meeting will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 PM at the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library, which is located at
425 6th Avenue at 10th Street.

Both books are available on our Web site: http://www.gothamgazette.com/books "

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Men-Room-American-Statehouse/dp/1595580328

Book Description
The inside story of one of the country's most secretive and misruled statehouses by a former New York State senator;.

"Democracy takes decades to take root and flourish. New York is learning that it takes just three men in a room to maim and seriously harm a vigorous and representative system of government."—from Three Men in a Room

It might be a scene from a movie: three powerful and secretive men sit in a private corner of an exclusive New York club, imperiously making decisions that affect the lives of millions of people. But the scene takes place in Albany, New York, and the exclusive members are the governor, the senate majority leader, and the speaker of the assembly of the New York State legislature.

Three Men in a Room is an insider's exposé of how one of the country's largest and most powerful governments—with the fourth-largest budget, behind only the federal government's, California's, and Texas's—has become a model of corrupt, inefficient, and undemocratic governance. Seymour Lachman ran the New York City Board of Education, taught political science, and was then elected to New York's legislature. What he found when he arrived in the halls of the state senate was a Potemkin village of government where legislators vote on bills they haven't read during legislative sessions they haven't attended. After four terms, Lachman left his safe seat in disgust, and has now written this sharp, mordant, and impassioned call for reform. Although Lachman's story takes place in one of the country's most progressive states, the problems described in this book are rampant in statehouses throughout the country.

About the Author
Dr. Seymour P. Lachman served for four-and-a-half terms as a New York state senator. He is a distinguished visiting professor at Adelphi University and co-author of One Nation Under God. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Robert Polner is an award-winning journalist with Newsday and the editor of America's Mayor: The Hidden History of Rudy Giuliani's New York. He lives in Queens, New York.

Official Website: http://www.gothamgazette.com/books