Two of HBO’s most successful series feature cities in crisis, The Wire, about the drug wars in West Baltimore and Treme about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The creator of both, David Simon, next turns his attention to Yonkers, New York in the 1980’s when the racially divided city was further torn apart by a court-ordered public housing project.

Show Me a Hero, a six-part series set to debut this coming Sunday, August 16, is adapted from the book of the same title by journalist Lisa Belkin. The NYT says it “arrives at a particularly relevant moment” as debates over public housing continue to rage.

Oscar Isaac stars as Mayor Wasicsko. The cast also includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder.

Belkin’s book is being released in a new edition, with an afterword that examines Yonkers today.

Show Me A Hero : A Tale of Murder, Suicide, Race, and Redemption
Lisa Belkin
Hachette/Back Bay Books:September 1, 2015
Paperback; $17.00

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