Randol Contreras came of age in the South Bronx during the 1980s, a time when the community was devastated by cuts in social services, a rise in arson and abandonment, and the rise of crack-cocaine. For this riveting book, he returns to the South Bronx with a sociological eye and provides an unprecedented insider’s look at the workings of a group of Dominican drug robbers. Known on the streets as “Stickup Kids,” these men raided and brutally tortured drug dealers storing large amounts of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and cash. As a participant observer, Randol Contreras offers both a personal and theoretical account for the rise of the Stickup Kids and their violence. He mainly focuses on the lives of neighborhood friends, who went from being crack dealers to drug robbers once their lucrative crack market opportunities disappeared. The result is a stunning, vivid, on-the-ground ethnographic description of a drug robbery’s violence, the drug market high life, the criminal life course, and the eventual pain and suffering experienced by the casualties of the Crack Era. Provocative and eye-opening, The Stickup Kids urges us to explore the ravages of the drug trade through weaving history, biography, social structure, and drug market forces. It offers a revelatory explanation for drug market violence by masterfully uncovering the hidden social forces that produce violent and self-destructive individuals. Part memoir, part penetrating analysis, this book is engaging, personal, deeply informed, and entirely absorbing.

Renowned American sociologist William Julius Wilson takes a look at the social transformation of inner city ghettos, offering a sharp evaluation of the convergence of race and poverty. Rejecting both conservative and liberal interpretations of life in the inner city, Wilson offers essential information and a number of solutions to policymakers. The Truly Disadvantaged is a wide-ranging examination, looking at the relationship between race, employment, and education from the 1950s onwards, with surprising and provocative findings. This second edition also includes a new afterword from Wilson himself that brings the book up to date and offers fresh insight into its findings. “ The Truly Disadvantaged should spur critical thinking in many quarters about the causes and possible remedies for inner city poverty. As policymakers grapple with the problems of an enlarged underclass they—as well as community leaders and all concerned Americans of all races—would be advised to examine Mr. Wilson's incisive analysis.”—Robert Greenstein, New York Times Book Review

When Herman Hesse visited India in the early days of the 20th century, he was captivated by the people, their customs, their culture, and their religion. On returning to Germany, he wrote a masterpiece on a young man's search for identity and meaning in a civilization that has lost its way. Loosely based on the early life of the Buddha, the book documents the journey of self-discovery and spiritual awakening of a character called Siddhartha. The name Siddhartha was the one the Buddha was known by before his renunciation. Siddhartha in Sanskrit is translated as "Siddha" (achieved) and "artha" (what was searched for). The novel follows Siddhartha from a life of comfort of privilege to his quest for truth in a world plagued by sorrow and suffering. The themes of Siddhartha are universal in that they are an account of a young person’s search for meaning — one that all readers can relate to. As Hesse skillfully takes us on a journey, he uses his poetic prose to challenge our preconceived notions of what a spiritual life and meaningful self-enrichment entail. Blind adherence to all systems of belief is shunned in favor of living in the moment and appreciating its ever-changing nature. Generations of readers have and will continue to find wisdom in the pages of Siddhartha.