[.ca] Gangs: Stories of Life and Death from the Streets (ISBN 1560254254)

A winner you will not want to put down.:
Way more than just the LA Crip/Blood stereotype. That's in there, sure, but Sean Donahue has also chosen really readable selections on soccer hooligans, neo-nazis and the skinheads who are NOT nazis, NY gangs of the 1800's, common street tough gangs, organized drug dealers, kidnap rings in El Salvador, Vietnamese gangs and two fascinating "anti-gang" pieces on a DA who turned to the dark side trying to bust up a gang, and a gang being decimated by drug addiction. It's fast-paced, exciting, and you'll find yourself staying up late to read "just one more" story. My only off-note: regrettably there is none of Hunter Thompson Hell's Angels work; I'd have swapped that for the Clockwork Orange excerpt. But you'll really enjoy what IS in there and probably learn something. About half the selections are full pieces, not excerpts, but the stuff pulled from bigger works is well chosen and you don't feel left hanging. It's just over 300 pages.