
Venkatesh has written a work whose intellectual depth and immense humanity have few parallels.’David Goldblatt, the Independent
‘An absolutely incredible book…equal parts comedy and tragedy…I promise you will not be able to put it down.’Steven D. Levitt, co-author, Freakonomics
To be published in paperback by Penguin Books on 5th February 2009, priced £8.99

Sudhir Venkatesh
The Robert Taylor Homes are one of Chicago’s most notorious housing projects. Gang Leader For A Day takes us there, right into the heart of the Black Kings gang, and is an absorbing and fascinating exploration into the morally ambiguous underbelly of gang culture. When Sudhir Venkatesh was looking for people to take part in a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty, he never imagined that he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade in the projects, under his protection. Venkatesh’s unique access to dealers, crackheads, squatters, prostitutes, pimps, activists, cops, organisers, and officials paints an honest and exposed portrait of an urban war zone. Populated by fascinating characters such as JT, T-Bone – JT’s henchman, a prostitute called Peanut and Ms Baily, the all powerful president of the building, Gang Leader For A Day uncovers the complex organisational structure of the crack-selling trade and crime culture, and answers the question: what is it like to live in hell?
Sudhir Venkatesh is Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Columbia University, New York. He has written extensively about American poverty. He is currently working on a project comparing the urban poor in France and the United States. His writings, stories and documentaries have appeared in the mainstream national media in the United States.
mari.yamazaki@uk.penguingroup.com
