{"product_id":"gang-leader-for-a-day-a-rogue-sociologist-takes-to-the-streets","title":"Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller\u003cbr\u003e Foreword by Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eFreakonomics\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e When first-year graduate student Sudhir Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago's most notorious housing projects, he hoped to find a few people willing to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty--and impress his professors with his boldness. He never imagined that as a result of this assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade embedded inside the projects under JT's protection. From a privileged position of unprecedented access, Venkatesh observed JT and the rest of his gang as they operated their crack-selling business, made peace with their neighbors, evaded the law, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang's complex hierarchical structure. Examining the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, and often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone, \u003ci\u003eGang Leader for a Day\u003c\/i\u003e also tells the story of the complicated friendship that develops between Venkatesh and JT--two young and ambitious men a universe apart.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"Riveting.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\u003cb\u003eCompelling... dramatic...\u003c\/b\u003e Venkatesh gives readers a window into a way of life that few Americans understand.\" --\u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\u003cb\u003eAn eye-opening account \u003c\/b\u003einto an underserved city within the city.\" --\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"The achievement of \u003ci\u003eGang Leader for a Day \u003c\/i\u003eis to give the dry statistics a raw, beating heart.\"\u003c\/b\u003e --\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\u003cb\u003eA rich portrait of the urban poor,\u003c\/b\u003e drawn not from statistics but from viivd tales of their lives and his, and how they intertwined.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"A \u003cb\u003esensative, sympathetic, unpatronizing\u003c\/b\u003e portrayal of lives that are ususally ignored or lumped into ill-defined stereotype.\" --\u003ci\u003eFinanical Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Sudhir Venkatesh's latest book \u003ci\u003eFloating City: A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York's Underground Economy\u003c\/i\u003e--a memoir of sociological investigation revealing the true face of America's most diverse city--was published in September 2013 by The Penguin Press\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bust-Down Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50674530353467,"sku":"014311493X","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0855\/2077\/7531\/files\/25951303482238.jpg?v=1761255877","url":"https:\/\/bustdownbooks.com\/products\/gang-leader-for-a-day-a-rogue-sociologist-takes-to-the-streets","provider":"Bust-Down Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}