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tophat8855's review against another edition
3.0
Shaking my head at how naive Venkatesh was at points.
It was by pure chance that I listened to this right after finishing Freakonomics (I use a random number generator to pick my next books).
It was interesting. I listened via Hoopla and they had an interview afterwards with Venkatesh and that was good, too.
It was by pure chance that I listened to this right after finishing Freakonomics (I use a random number generator to pick my next books).
It was interesting. I listened via Hoopla and they had an interview afterwards with Venkatesh and that was good, too.
ballista_2003's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
This book was just as good if not better on the re-read! I can’t wait to read everything else Venkatesh publishes!
yarafadel's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great book. The author had the courage to do exactly what curious people must do - in my opinion. He went to the places he was told not to go, presented himself and took full responsibility for his actions. I do not think this was supposed to be a sociological book; rather it was probably everything he wanted to say in his dissertation but could not. It is his diary of those 5 years of his life. I love the fact that the author does not identify as the same race group as those he lived with in the projects. He went in knowing nothing, and came out with a book that spoke about the gang taboos we do not want to talk about or admit they exist. This book was about the author’s experience and what he saw first hand, and I am very glad people are writing such personal books that actually teach you something.
maiello13's review against another edition
4.0
Great read, but very unethical and there were some inconsistencies that bothered me. However I believe that he did give a true view of life in a gang in the early 90s.
itsambarnotamber's review against another edition
5.0
I had to read this book for a history class of mine and I absolutely devoured it. It gives you a first hand of account of how people really live in poor Black neighborhoods. Often times we ask ourself why is their so much violence? Why is this culture like this or why can't they remove themselves from certain situations? This book answers uncomfortable questions that many people that live on the outside of these neighborhoods think but only vocalize in hushed tones.
shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
Well this was mind-bending. I would have been more comfortable staying in my cocoon of not knowing much about the inner workings of gangs operating in and around the Chicago housing projects. In the 1990s Sudhir Venkatesh was a graduate student in sociology at the University of Chicago. He befriended a gang leader and spent years getting to know the people and the standard operating procedures of folks living with gang activity. The money, bribes, crimes, bullying by both gang members and police, folks pitching together to help each other, are all here. And it turns out that low members on the totem pole, in this case the guys actually selling the drugs on the street, don't get paid any better than low folks on the totem pole in the 'above ground' economy. Crazy world - interesting, eye-opening book.