Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
In this revelatory book, Sudhir Venkatesh takes us into Maquis Park, a poor black neighborhood on Chicago's Southside, to explore the desperate, dangerous, and remarkable ways in which a community survives. We find there an entire world of unregulated, unreported, and untaxed work, a system of living off the books that is daily life in the ghetto. From women who clean houses and prepare lunches for the local hospital to small-scale entrepreneurs like the mechanic who works in an alley; from the preacher who provides mediation services to the salon owner who rents her store out for gambling parties; and from street vendors hawking socks and incense to the drug dealing and extortion of the local gang, we come to see how these activities form the backbone of the ghetto economy.
What emerges are the innumerable ways that these men and women, immersed in their shadowy economic pursuits, are connected to and reliant upon one another. The underground economy, as Venkatesh's subtle storytelling reveals, functions as an intricate web, and in the strength of its strands lie the fates of many Maquis Park residents. 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.
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- ISBN: 9780674023550
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17 Reviews
| From: Amazon Posted: Feb 13, 2007 Type: User Review |
Could Become a Landmark Work in the Study of Cities...
40 years ago, Jane Jacobs influenced generations of planners and urban policy makers with her "Death and Life of Great American Cities," a sensitive and sensible portrait of how great cities work as social organisms. Jacobs turned 60 years of...
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 5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Feb 06, 2007 Type: User Review |
Dissecting the Cartoon of the Poor
First off, getting the criticism out of the way, the organization and pacing of this book is slightly cantankerous, with instances of logical loopbacks and digressions. It can be slightly frustrating.
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 4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jan 24, 2007 Type: User Review |
Expected Too Much
Saw Venkatesh's book on Slate's list of the best of 2006 and looked forward to reading it after picking it up.
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 2.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jan 06, 2007 Type: User Review |
Approachable and Informative
I expected this book to be an interesting exploration of the underground economy but did not expect it to be so approachable, human, and readable. Although it is nearly 400 pages long, I read the entire book in about 3 days and retained a great...
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Dec 19, 2006 Type: User Review |
Superb, Of Lasting Value, Next Edition Should Include Some Appendices
Robert Daniels review is useful. What stayed with me on this book is that we have let our urban poor down, over and over, and while they have created an underground community and a web of relationships that span the licit and illicit, they will...
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4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Oct 02, 2006 Type: User Review |
Way More Than Informative...
Some books are informative. And some books are eye-opening. This book is eye-opening. Read it and you will learn many fascinating things you never dreamed were going on....
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5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Sep 17, 2006 Type: User Review |
Wise and compassionate
Venkatesh is that rare academic whose writing appeals both to the specialist and the layman. He has constructed a wise and compassionate portrait that never loses sight of the humanity of his subjects.
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5.00/5 |
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