What happens when a grad student goes to the projects with a survey on poverty? In this case, a harrowing first 12 hours under confinement by gang members, and then an entre into the world of the gang. Told with an honesty that underscores Venkatesh's ambivalence towards the gang leader, this was a fascinating look at a world most of us would not want to get too close to. In the end, no one spends this much time with the gang without getting touched somehow, but I sense that in this case, it was worth the ride. ( )

Sudhir Venkatesh was a grad student in Sociology at the University of Chicago when he got involved in a gang. Okay, that’s a little dramatic. What actually happened is that he went into the poor neighborhoods surrounding the U of C and began asking people what it felt to be poor and black (seriously). Turns out that’s maybe not such a good idea, as he was basically held hostage by a gang who thought he was Mexican and a spy for a rival gang planning a drive-by. Strange as it may seem, the kidnapping doesn’t end up being all bad. Through it, Sudhir meets the charismatic gang leader J.T. with whom he will spend an inordinate amount of time over the next few years and through whom he will get access to the Robert Taylor projects for his thesis on the economy of poverty.

This book was really interesting and I’m glad I read it, especially living in Chicago and having taught very close to where the events of this book took place. That said, it did disappoint me in some ways. Sudhir’s story was very interesting, but I expected him to grow as a person or learn something during his sojourn in the projects with the gang. Either that, or I expected that he would write his experiences with a story arc. Either way that would have made the book more memoir-ish, since it seemed too subjective for a real sociology book.

Definitely an interesting peek int the real life of gangs and projects in Chicago. There is some absolutely heartbreaking stuff in here, and it helps you understand how people do reprehensible things to survive. Pick it up as an interesting study, but don’t expect really stellar writing or much of a story arc. ( )

Eminently readable and engaging, this book by Sudhir Venkatesh looks beyond the easy conclusions of either sympathy or condemnation for gangs and examines the part they play in an inner-city community. His "in their world but not of it" position lends the book a downer ending as he witnesses but doesn't have to experience the break-up of the community following the destruction of the Robert Taylor homes, but overall, the book is a great read. ( )

Venkatesh studied the economics of the urban poor for his dissertation. In the course of his research, he spent an extraordinary amount of time among the residents of a Chicago housing project tower, befriending many. One of the people he got to know best was J.T., the leader of a local drug gang. For years, J.T. had convinced himself that Venkatesh was writing about him instead of about the underground economy. He wasn't, but 10 years later, Venkatesh wrote that biography, transforming his extensive notes of conversations with J.T. and others into a readable and interesting, if somewhat simple, documentary of his 5 years or so of research. ( )

Rogue? Not really, but I suspect that's the publisher talking. The author doesn't seem to have such a high opinion of himself, and that helps the book a lot. It moves, it has a great mix of the personal (his qualms about using the gang to advance his career) and the descriptive. If you've watched The Wire (which you should of course) and read this, there is a consistency to the picture that adds credibility to both. And it ain't a pretty picture. ( )