James Shiffer's The King of Skid Row: John Bachich and the Twilight Years of Old Minneapolis is a photo-packed expose of a place, a time, and a population city leaders would just as soon forget.
But Shiffer's book is more than a voyeuristic look into the seedy bars, flophouses and rescue missions of the Gateway District and the men and women who lived and died there. It's a look into what we lose when we try to erase - figuratively and literally - our past.
