Full name: Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

Author: Sudhir Venkatesh Year: 2008 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Non Fiction, Biographies Purchase/reserch links: Amazon Goodreads eBooks.com LibraryThing ISBNs: 9780143114932 9781594201509 014311493X 1594201501

First introduced in Freakonomics, here is the full story of Sudhir Venkatesh, the sociology grad student who infiltrated one of Chicago's most notorious gangsThe story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrance into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment.When Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago's most notorious housing projects, he was looking for people to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty. A first-year grad student hoping to impress his professors with his boldness, he never imagined that as a result of the assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade inside the projects under JT's protection, documenting what he saw there.Over the next seven years, Venkatesh got to know the neighborhood dealers, crackheads, squatters, prostitutes, pimps, activists, cops, organizers, and officials. From his privileged position of unprecedented access, he observed JT and the rest of the gang as they operated their crack-selling business, conducted PR within their community, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang's complex organizational structure Similar books: There's More to Life Than This by Theresa Caputo The Duck Commander Family by Willie Robertson To Selena, with Love by Chris Perez The Life and Legend of Chris Kyle by Michael J. Mooney The Women of Duck Commander by Kay Robertson A Lion's Tale by Chris Jericho Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert Coco Chanel by Megan Hess The Audrey Hepburn Treasures by Ellen Erwin H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald Beyond the Robot by Gary Lachman A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis Marva Collins' Way by Marva Collins Stuart by Alexander Masters A Tragic Honesty by Blake Bailey Smiling in Slow Motion by Derek Jarman The Book of Joe by Jeff Wilser My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas