Gang Leader for a Day

I went into this book skeptical. I really thought it was going to be one of those corny “analyses” of “urban culture”, that ended up falling into a definite “side” and parroting a specific angle of the political spectrum. But no, this book is nuanced, comprehensive, and profound. It gives shocking insight into impoverished and marginalized communities, giving them dignity, but not papering over or excusing anything. Every person should read this book to get a better idea of how such communities live and persist. All sides of the political spectrum will find food for thought and challenges to their notions. If you work in or near a city, or have strong opinions about “those people” (whoever they might be for you), then this is a book for you to read and be better informed, even though there exists few answers or proposals in these pages, it is a first step to see the problems and gifts of these communities in stark relief and to wrestle with their history and implications.

Really interesting and entertainingly written. Surprisingly fast-paced and narrative yet informative. Really made me want to Chicago to see all the places referenced. I'm glad that it was more about the author and the relationships he made because it really made the information and statistics he mention about the people in the projects more believable and vivid.

I also went to University of Chicago (where the author was during the main of this book), so I am well aware of the neighborhoods and issues he is talking about. I have never really had any dealings with gangs, but I worked at a homeless shelter (often with lots of gang or former gang members), a drug rehab program and with an after school program in a different public housing complex. This is a really good book about the myriad of issues that face the poor in the US. Poverty, especially concentrated urban poverty, is not a simple issue. It can't be solved by better government or better public policy by itself. It can't be just a pull yourself up by your bootstraps. There are not a lot of answers in this book but there are a lot of description of the issues. It is the way that real stories should be told. This should be required reading for any one that wants to look deeper in to the issues of poverty in the US.

A longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/gang-leader-for-a-day-a-rouge-sociologist-takes-to-the-streets-by-sudhir-alladi-venkatesh/