Gang Leader for a Day

Abstract

'An absolutely incredible book . . . equal parts comedy and tragedy . . . I promise you will not be able to put it down'STEVEN D. LEVITT, CO-AUTHOR OF FREAKONOMICSSudhir Venkatesh was a student with a clipboard when he went into one of the worst ghettos in America and asked some gang members, 'How does it feel to be black and poor? They put a gun to his head and held him hostage overnight.But he didn't learn his lesson. Sudhir came back the next day with a six-pack of bee and started to hang around.This is the incredible story of the decade he spent with the Black Kings, under the wing of gang leader J.T. and his henchmen. It opens up a world of gangsters, criminal hierarchies and power struggles, where somehow a community survives where the rules of right and wrong can't.'A facinating and full-access look at survival in what is as good as an urban war zone' HERALD'Extraordinary . . . a rich, terrifying story' OBSERVER'Eye-opening . . . high-octane' SCOTSMAN'A rich portrait of the urban poor' ECONOMIST