![]() | Do or Die by Leon Bing
Buy new: $11.69 / Used from: $0.01 Journalist Bing's study of California gangsters in the 1980s. Some sensationalization.
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![]() | Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez
Buy used from: $0.01 Rodriguez' excellent autobiography about Chicano gangs in the '60s & '70s.
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![]() | Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur
Buy used from: $1.20 Crip Monster Kody Scott's autobiography about LA gangs in the 1980s. A modern day version of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
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![]() | My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King by Reymundo Sanchez
Buy new: $21.56 / Used from: $14.88 Chicago Latin King's autobiography of the gang life in the 1980s. A very good book.
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![]() | Street Kingdom: Five Years Inside the Franklin Avenue Posse by Douglas Century
Buy used from: $3.99 Journalist Century's relationship with a NYC "gangster" who is trying to go straight. Well written and entertaining.
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![]() | Crews: Gang Members Talk to Maria Hinojosa by Maria Hinojosa
Buy used from: $0.01 NPR's Hinojisa interviews NYC crew members (less organized, gang-like groups). An excellent, all-ages book.
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![]() | 8 Ball Chicks by Gini Sikes
Buy new: $11.18 / Used from: $2.77 Journalist Sikes's study of female gangsters in LA, San Antonio & Milwaulkee. Similar to Bing's Do or Die.
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![]() | Dead End Kids: Gang Girls and the Boys They Know by Mark S. Fleisher
Buy new: $19.75 / Used from: $7.24 Sociologist Fleisher's look at female gangsters in KC. A little too preachy, but very accurate.
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![]() | The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach by Irving A. Spergel
Buy used from: $40.00 Excellent sociological analysis of gang history, structure & causes in US by a foremost expert in the field.
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![]() | Wallbangin': Graffiti and Gangs in L.A. by Susan A. Phillips
Buy new: $20.08 / Used from: $4.95 Anthropological look at Latino, African-American & Bomber graffiti in LA with a short overview of gang life. Great pictures.
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![]() | Uprising by Yusuf Jah
Buy new: $22.95 / Used from: $0.59 Self-serving and terrible. A collection of interviews with OG's during the truce.
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![]() | Hell's Angels: Three Can Keep a Secret If Two Are Dead' by Y. Lavigne
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $5.32 A great overview of outlaw motorcycle gangs and their histories. Lavigne is a journalist who writes to shock, but does a terrific job detailing these criminal enterprises.
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![]() | Life in the Gang: Family, Friends, and Violence (Cambridge Studies in Criminology) by Scott H. Decker
Buy new: $25.78 / Used from: $13.23 An amazing study of gangs in St. Louis. The authors conduct interviews with 99 gangbangers and 24 members of their family and breakdown what these people actually do with their time.
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![]() | Voices from the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories by S. Beth Atkin
Buy used from: $1.03 An all-ages book detailing the lives of several ex-gang members and how they left their gangs and some of the social workers who helped them. Hinojisa's Crews is better book.
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