Book report

I'm reading this book called Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. It's amazing. Totally perspective-changing. LeBlanc, a journalist, followed a family in the South Bronx for about 15 years (I think–I'm not finished yet), and this is the story of their lives. Simple concept, but the result is fascinating. She tells it straight. She just hung out with members of an extended family for a long time, kept interviewing them over and over, and used court documents and secondary sources to corroborate what they said.

It's a story of poverty, drugs, family, street life—especially notable is how gender, race, and class intersect and create these dynamics that are so hard to unravel. What I love is that the author suspends judgment. The book is all description. I highly recommend it. You'll never look at urban poverty the same way again.