In this “riveting”(The New York Times) work of nonfiction, a sociologist infiltrates the world of Chicago’s crack-dealing gangs
First presented in Freakonomics, the story of a young sociologist who embedded himself in Chicago’s most notorious gang and captured the world’s attention. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh gained entrance into the lives of a group of drug-dealers and went on to witness—and participate in—events that have rarely been described in print. A brazen, page-turning, and fundamentally honest view of the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone, it is also an emotional and complicated look at the friendship that develops between the sociologist and a gang leader, two ambitious men a universe apart.
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Gang Leader for a DayForeword by Stephen J. Dubner Preface
One: How Does It Feel to be Black and Poor?
Two: First Days on Federal Street
Three: Someone to Watch Over Me
Four: Gang Leader for a Day
Five: Ms. Bailey's Neighborhood
Six: The Hustler and the Hustled
Seven: Black and Blue
Eight: The Stay-Together Gang
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
Index
“The achievement of Gang Leader for a Day is to give the dry statistics a raw, beating heart.” —The Boston Globe
“Compelling . . . Venkatesh gives readers a window into a way of life that few Americans understand.” — Newsweek
“Whether you enjoy fiction, history, or biography you’ll be drawn to Venkatesh’s gripping retelling of his experiences . . . Gang Leader for a Day poignantly reminds us that there continue to be separate and unequal Americas that ultimately impact us all.” —Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
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