Reviews
"Now In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, by Philippe Bourgois, brings the lives of these crack dealers into brilliant focus. Bourgois' raw and poignant book delivers a message about the economics of exclusion that should shake public perceptions of the inner-city drug trade....Bourgois offers us truly culturally privileged information...for anyone interested in the brutal truth about drug dealing in our inner cities, In Search of Respect is the place to look." Washington Post Book World, '… rich interview and observational data is used to tell the stories of the residents … It is clear that Bourgois is a very skilled ethnographer and the book is testimony to that.' Sociology, "...[a] masterful study of the drug trade in upper Manhattan....[a] fascinating book....Bourgois' wealth of detail adds greatly to his picture of the internal logic of ghetto life....Bourgois' portraits are so carefully executed, so unflinching, that it's impossible to walk away from this book without a profoundly different perspective on the inner city." London Review of Books, '... rich interview and observational data is used to tell the stories of the residents ... It is clear that Bourgois is a very skilled ethnographer and the book is testimony to that.' Sociology, "Some of the best ethnographic research being conducted today concerns the use of crack cocaine in different inner- and outer-cities. Anthropologist Philippe Bourgois spent several years studying the crack trade in his East Harlem community...He was able to gain entry to a world of economic, gender, age, and ethnic relationships that are closed to representatives of official society." ICCA Journal, "offers one of the most closely observed accounts we are likely to get of the urban crack scene...it provides a fascinating account of the obstacles crack sellers face as they seek to earn a living." New York Review of Books, '... an impressive book. The beautifully written and well organised ethnography gives an insight into the drug scene culture with its harsh and shocking details of violence. ... a masterpiece of ethnographic description ...' Medische Anthropologie, '… an impressive book. The beautifully written and well organised ethnography gives an insight into the drug scene culture with its harsh and shocking details of violence. … a masterpiece of ethnographic description …' Medische Anthropologie
