Gang Leader for a Day: Sudhir Venkatesh - Softcover

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'An absolutely incredible book ... equal parts comedy and tragedy ... I promise you will not be able to put it down' Stephen D. Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics

Sudhir 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 took him hostage overnight, before sending him on his way.

But then Sudhir came back with a six-pack of beer 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 carrying a gun is a reward for good work and punishment is being dangled over a freeway - yet somehow a community survives where the rules of right and wrong can't.

'A fascinating and full-access look at survival in what is as good as an urban war zone' Herald

'Extraordinary ... a rich, terrifying story of "outlaw capitalism" and institutional corruption' Observer

'Eye-opening ... high-octane' Scotsman