{"product_id":"9780143114932","title":"Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eForeword by Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eFreakonomics\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen first-year graduate student Sudhir Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago’s most notorious housing projects, he hoped to find a few people willing to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty—and impress his professors with his boldness. He never imagined that as a result of this assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade embedded inside the projects under JT’s protection. From a privileged position of unprecedented access, Venkatesh observed JT and the rest of his gang as they operated their crack-selling business, made peace with their neighbors, evaded the law, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang’s complex hierarchical structure. Examining the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, and often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone, \u003ci\u003eGang Leader for a Day\u003c\/i\u003e also tells the story of the complicated friendship that develops between Venkatesh and JT—two young and ambitious men a universe apart.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Riveting.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Compelling... dramatic... Venkatesh gives readers a window into a way of life that few Americans understand.\"—\u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An eye-opening account into an underserved city within the city.\"—\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The achievement of \u003ci\u003eGang Leader for a Day \u003c\/i\u003eis to give the dry statistics a raw, beating heart.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A rich portrait of the urban poor, drawn not from statistics but from viivd tales of their lives and his, and how they intertwined.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A sensative, sympathetic, unpatronizing portrayal of lives that are ususally ignored or lumped into ill-defined stereotype.\"—\u003ci\u003eFinanical Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSudhir Venkatesh’s latest book \u003ci\u003eFloating City: A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York’s Underground Economy\u003c\/i\u003e—a memoir of sociological investigation revealing the true face of America’s most diverse city—was published in September 2013 by Penguin Press\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47016168030448,"sku":"9780143114932","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780143114932_p0.jpg?v=1769895311","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780143114932","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}