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In his literary work, Gang Leader for a Day, Venkatesh records his encounters while gathering qualitative data to be used in writing his Ph.D. thesis during the 1990s. He gathered incredibly comprehensive, rich information of an apartment building, one of the Robert Taylor Homes, a dwelling to many destitute, mostly jobless Blacks. In this paper, the writer shall conduct a reflection on this work of literature offering personal views on the book. Reflections The literary work is slightly a pedestrian piece, common description of the intellectual study, instead of an intelligent analysis of the topic. It is built founded largely on the author’s field observations and his memories. The book in my view is intended for the general ordinary readers. It is free from jargons and reads similar to novels or autobiographies. Allusions to sociological terminologies such as the Likert scale are very nominal. Whereas the author has unashamedly recognized himself in the title as a sociologist, with sociology intertwined all through the book, it is evidently intended for a broad audience, not only for scholars. However, the book should not be downgraded to the type appropriate just for the sake of reading. It is also beneficial to research resource for many educational scholars. Sprinkled with vulgarity, the author establishes the crude language of the gangs he examined, giving a simple understanding for students. Secondly, the book would integrate well as a textbook in various undergraduate programs. The author’s major concentration is on race since he scrutinizes the everyday struggles of the every black people living within the underprivileged housing scheme. Nonetheless, there
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