I know I’ve randomly raved about this one, but it’s excellent. The narrator is excellent, the information is excellent, the story is excellent. Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I’ll try to refrain from using that word again.
When Sudhir Venkatesh first started grad school (at the University of Chicago, in sociology) he was assigned to administer a survey about what it’s like to be black and poor. In his innocence about Chicago and life, he bebopped over to the projects to ask some questions. And there he encountered the JT and the Black Kings, a gang who sold crack and controlled a large part of Robert Taylor, the area of the projects that Venkatesh stumbled into.
If you read Freakonomics then you read the beginning of the story. Venkatesh was essentially held hostage by the Black Kings for 24 hours. JT and his men would not let him leave. Instead, they asked him questions about what he was doing and why he was doing it. While JT may have believed him, his men initially thought Venkatesh was Mexican, and perhaps part of a Mexican gang. However, he was finally able to convince them that he was studying sociology and that he was sincerely (although naively) interested in them…what they did, why they did it, how they lived. After their initial meeting, JT and Venkatesh ended up spending most of the 1990s together, as Venkatesh shadowed JT, his gang, and the residents of Robert Taylor. Gang Leader for a Day is the rest of the story, what happened after that initial meeting and what Venkatesh learned about life in projects.
What is fascinating about the story is how close Venkatesh gets to his subjects. Although he knew that JT and his men sold crack, and that they coerced many of the residents of Robert Taylor in a variety of ways, there is the strong impression that Venkatesh still liked most of the guys. And it was nearly impossible to spend the amount of time he did at Robert Taylor without getting involved in the lives of the residents. He witnessed domestic violence, drive-by shootings, beatings and scams of various kinds. In fact, at one point, his grad school advisors sent him to a lawyer to get advice on what he might later have to testify on, or tell the cops, if he was ever asked. What amazed me was how deep into his project he was before he found all that out.
Anyways, this is book is interesting in a variety of ways. It illustrates the value of ethnographies, as opposed to statistical research. It demonstrates Venkatesh’s growth as a person and a sociologist. It describes life in the projects, both the positive and negative. And it shows how careful you need to be when studying, interacting with and writing about your subjects.
If you are at all interested in sociology, or gangs, or life in the projects, or even if you’re just looking for a good non-fiction audio book, then I’d urge you to give this one a try.
Wow! This is a great review. The book sounds really interesting.
Sharla´s last blog ..2009 Read-a-Thon Book Selections
I bought a copy of this book on a whim one day but haven’t had a chance to read it. Have you seen the show The Wire? This reminds me a bit of that, at least in respect to the gang life. I am glad you were able to get so much out of this one. I definitely am looking forward to reading it.
Literary Feline´s last blog ..Review: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
This sounds really good! I need a new audiobook too – thanks! I hadn’t known about this one!
rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Sunday Salon – Review of The War Chronicles: From Flintlocks to Machine Guns by Joseph Cummins
Loved FREAKONOMICS, and I like all the Malcolm Gladwell pop-sociology books, so this sounds like a good fit for me. Interesting that the audio has 3 narrators (I know there’s a ‘main’ narrator, but unusual that someone else does the intro and the author chimes in at the end)
Dawn – She is Too Fond of Books´s last blog ..Book Review: *Everything Asian* by Sung J. Woo
I’ve never read Freakonomics, but I think I would really like this one. I went through a period where I read everything I could find about gangs – not sure why I’m so fascinated by the subject.
Kathy´s last blog ..Mailbox Monday
I read an excerpt from this via the DearReader.com e-mail book club a few months back, and bought the book shortly after that…and like so many others, it’s languishing in TBR Purgatory. I’m really glad to know how much you liked it – I may need to dig it out sooner rather than later!
Florinda´s last blog ..OK, I’m making this up…
I’ve found that it’s an interesting phenomenon: it’s easy to label people “criminals” and “thugs” until you get to know them. I have to say that I actually LIKE the great majority of my clients who are accused of crimes. The sad fact is that there are a lot, a LOT of regular folks who do stupid things. (There are some not-so-nice ones, too, but the majority are people I don’t mind being around.)
This book is going on my TBR list. It sounds amazing.
Lexi´s last blog ..Two Weeks’ Worth of Friday Fill-Ins!
This still sounds good
Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)´s last blog ..Blog Improvement Project Week #20: Random Acts of Kindness
Oh, I really want to read this one. Thanks for a great, raving review!
Gavin´s last blog ..Sunday Salon – A Read-a-Thon Book Pile
Ok, after reading your review I have to have this book! I’m going to go add it to my various wish lists right now.
Alyce´s last blog ..The Maze Runner by James Dashner – Review
This would be a great follow-up read to “Freakonomics.” Cool! Thanks for this.
Jenners´s last blog ..Review: Silverstein & Me by Marv Gold
I’m so glad you liked this. I thought it was a fascinating read-I was surprised by how intricately entwined and involved the gang was in the surrounding community. Along the lines of what Lexi was saying, I couldn’t just dismiss all the gang members as thugs as easily as I thought I would be able to.
Dreamybee´s last blog ..What I’m Reading Now-Dracula (Mid-Read Update)