Reviews
Abstract
Journal of Planning Education and Research Planning as Persuasive Storytelling: The Rhetorical Construction of Chicago's Electric Future James A. Throgmorton Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1996. 328 pages. $61.00 (HB), $19.95 (PB) Review by Patsy Healey Director, Centre for Research in European Urban Environments Professor, Town and Country Planning University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne In this case study, Throgmorton makes a contribution to planning theory and practice on three interconnected levels. First, he advances and consolidates a theoretical position within the interpretive or communicative perspectives. Second, he provides a rich account of the perspectives and dilemmas surrounding the regulation of utilities provision. Third, he offers an example of the method of storytelling in policy analysis. Planning scholars and students in planning theory, utilities regulation, and qualitative methods in policy analysis will find something of interest in this multifaceted book. But Throgmorton's ambitions are wider than this: He has sought to write a readable and accessible book for practitioners and concerned citizens interested in the politics of planning issues and for anyone interested in the reflective use of rhetoric. The book follows a traditional case study format. It begins with a theoretical account, which tells the conceptual story