The author explains the many paradoxes of Marion Barry’s career, and documents the growth of his racial and political identities parallel with those of his largely black constituency. Barras places the DC mayor in context, comparing him with politicians – black and non-black – of his generation, and with ‘the new black leaders’ who have rendered his style obsolete. Focusing on the period from Barry’s 1992 prison release, through his 1994 mayoral victory, and the subsequent erosion of his influence in the nation’s capital, Barras’s study traces the uneven trajectory of a wily, controversial, but captivating personality.