Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh's Books

Gang Leader for a Day

A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Gang Leader for a Day

A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

The 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. This is the full story of how Venkatesh managed to gain entrée into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment. When first-year grad student Venkatesh walked into one of Chicago's most notorious housing projects, he was looking for people to take a survey on urban poverty. He never imagined that he would befriend a gang leader and spend the better part of a decade inside the projects under his protection. He got to know the neighborhood dealers, crackheads, squatters, prostitutes, pimps, activists, cops, organizers, and officials. From his position of unprecedented access, he observed the gang as they operated their crack-selling business and rose or fell within the ranks of the gang's complex organizational structure.--From publisher description.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

326

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

1594201501

ISBN 13

9781594201509

Gang Leader for a Day

A Rogue Sociologist Crosses the Line

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Gang Leader for a Day

A Rogue Sociologist Crosses the Line

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Gang Leader for a Dayis a gripping journey of discovery about life on the wrong side of the tracks. When na�ve sociology student Sudhir Venkatesh went to find out more about urban poverty in Chicago, the last thing he expected was to be held hostage by a gang. And he never guessed that, after being released, he's want to return to find out more about them, ignoring everyone's advice and entering a dangerous world beond anything he'd ever experienced. In the Robert Taylor Homes projects on Chicago's South Side, Sudhir befriends J.T., a gang leader for the Black Kings. As their friendship grows, he slowly gains J.T.'s trust, unil one day, in order to convince Sudhir of his own CEO-like qualities, J.T. makes him leader of the gang. Deciding who cleans up the buildings after a party gets out of hand is one thing, but what do you do when somebody needs to be punished? What's more, why does J.T. make his henchmen, the 'shorties', stay in school? What is the difference between a 'regular' hustler and a 'hype' - and is Peanut telling him the truth about which she is? Why is Moochie sleeping with Ms Bailey, the all-powerful president of the building, theirty years his senior? And, when the FBI finally starts cracking down on the Black Kings, is it time to get out - or is it too late? Incredibly funny and heartbreaking, this is a story of one man's commitment to really crossing the line, to understanding how the people he is studying live day to day. What he doesn't expect is to become a part of their lives.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

302

Publisher

Penguin Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0713999942

ISBN 13

9780713999945

Floating City

A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York's Underground Economy

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Floating City

A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York's Underground Economy

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

The best-selling author of Gang Leader for a Day takes his next sociological study to Manhattan, where he travels through the underground economy utilized by prostitutes, madams, drug dealers, immigrants, hedge fund traders, hipster artists and nannies.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

287

Publisher

Penguin Press HC

Published Date

ISBN 10

1594204160

ISBN 13

9781594204166

Off the Books

The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Off the Books

The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor

By: Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

In this revelatory book, Sudhir Venkatesh takes us into Maquis Park, a poor black neighborhood on Chicago's Southside, to explore the desperate and remarkable ways in which a community survives. The result is a dramatic narrative of individuals at work, and a rich portrait of a community. But while excavating the efforts of men and women to generate a basic livelihood for themselves and their families, Off the Books offers a devastating critique of the entrenched poverty that we so often ignore in America, and reveals how the underground economy is an inevitable response to the ghetto's appalling isolation from the rest of the country.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

460

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674044649

ISBN 13

9780674044647

American Project

The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto

By: Sudhir Alladi VENKATESH,Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

American Project

The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto

By: Sudhir Alladi VENKATESH,Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

High-rise public housing developments were signature features of the post-World War II city. A hopeful experiment in providing temporary, inexpensive housing for all Americans, the "projects" soon became synonymous with the black urban poor, with isolation and overcrowding, with drugs, gang violence, and neglect. As the wrecking ball brings down some of these concrete monoliths, Sudhir Venkatesh seeks to reexamine public housing from the inside out, and to salvage its troubled legacy.

Average ratings

N/A