Reviews

On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City by Alice Goffman

caitj_22's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

welcome2bmart's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

mirandags's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting account of young Black men in Philadelphia who experience frequent legal entanglements. The methodological note at the end added a considerable amount of context to the author's experience of writing the book.

blairconrad's review against another edition

3.0

A good book, full of important information. It really opened my eyes to how problems with the law can affect not only the young urban black men who first commit an infraction, but their families and loved ones, and for their entire lives. The book showed me that while it's easy for an outsider to dismiss their problems as being of their own making, the justice system really does make it harder for affected people to go clean and better their situation once they've committed an infraction, nearly no matter how small.

The book itself started out strong, but weakened in the middle, with (I thought) relatively little new information being provided, or at least no information that rivalled the power of that in the early chapters. And I never really felt like the book was building to a unified conclusion. As a result, it was slow going for a while, to the point where I considered not reading the research methodology at the end. I'm glad I stuck it out, though, as this section was nearly the most engaging.

carlakingmolina's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to like this book and ethnography is a genre I love. However it felt too much like a recounting of a relatively small data analysis and despite supposedly living with these people and being a part of their world - Goffman doesn’t make them particularly likeable - which is confusing as much much more terrible humans have been made likeable by other Ethnographers who can see and share their humanity more vividly.

This coupled with the fact that there were some pretty significant ethical issues raised about Goffman’s research mean that when I failed to be grip 3/4’s in - I was more than okay with giving up on her account. Disappointing because the subject matter deserved better.

clara_valeria's review against another edition

4.0

A shocking insight into a world that to me as a white woman from Western Europe is completely foreign. Definitely worth reading to get an interesting perspective on the US criminal justice system, the tough-on-crime policies and their influence on society.

readwithpassion's review against another edition

4.0

Inspired by a college course in her sophomore year, Alice Goffman seeks an ethnographic experience in inner-city Philadelphia. She gets a part-time job tutoring an African American girl, Aisha, and soon befriends the boys of 6th Street (pseudonym). Mike adopts her as a younger sister, and she comes to live with these boys---studying their every move. This quality piece of ethnographic research is a page turner. While it reads a bit more like a book than a scholarly publication, readers can glean her methodological approach through the footnotes. Goffman's mission is clear. She wants readers to understand the inequities these African American boys of 6th Street face, and she shows how the criminal justice system (both law enforcement and the justice/prison system) are not working. I was ashamed at the actions of the police, specifically, and think this is very educational to readers of all ages, particularly in the wake of the racially based crimes that we consistently see in the news.

This book is written for adults, but I think it would be very educational for high school students. I would use excerpts of this text to show students the realities of life on 6th Street in Philadelphia. It could be used to better understand crimes in the news, to teach inequity, to examine class issues, to understand the drug trade, and to fight racism. It would be eye-opening for students. While teaching this, I would also consider pairing it with Malcolm Gladwell's review.

kutklose302's review against another edition

4.0

Alice Goffman a young sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, moves into a poor Black community and see's the shock and awe of a full-fledged war on residents. Police beat up people under arrest, steal from suspects, smash up homes while serving warrants, and use the results of surveillance to turn lovers or family members against one another.

tearsinthesea's review against another edition

1.0

This sub-urban raised white woman does not have a good factual based scholarly approach to her book/dissertation. She is exposed to ONE neighbourhood, and now she believes the police are arresting too much? Imprisoning innocents too often? She was in ONE area. ONE!!! That's nothing. You can't base off your whole dissertation off one long experience in an area. This is what UPenn students do with their time- jack off to confirmation biases and look for reasons to cause sociological question. Alice Goffman needs to experiment in North Philly, and tell me that they need less police patroling the city. Her writing portrays Philadelphia like it's ignoring its poverty stricken areas and legal conflict with its citizens. SHE LACKS sophistication in her whole conclusion. Only uses ethos to symphatise with her subjects / characters in her book. Living in Philadelphia, you are given resources, emphasised at a young age to pursue collegiate education and take advantage of the adversely seeming environment you're in to achieve better.
Her whole book is bullshit, she hasn't lived here long enough to sustain such beliefs- no matter her degree or position in sociology...

sukhmanrekhi's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.0