"A richly detailed and highly compassionate ethnographic study of a core group of black men who daily frequent Valois, a cafeteria in Chicago's Hyde Park." —A. Javier Treviño, Humanity & SocietyAt the Valois "See Your Food" cafeteria on Chicago's South Side, black and white men gather over cups of coffee and steam-table food. Mitchell Duneier, a sociologist, spent four years at the Valois writing this moving profile of the black men who congregate at "Slim...

Urban ethnography is the firsthand study of city life by investigators who immerse themselves in the worlds of the people about whom they write. Since its inception in the early twentieth century, this great tradition has helped define how we think about cities and city dwellers. The past few decades have seen an extraordinary revival in the field, as scholars and the public at large grapple with the increasingly complex and pressing issues that affect the ever-changing American city-from ...

A "stunningly detailed and timely" account of the idea of the ghetto from its origins in sixteenth century Venice and its revival by the Nazis to the present (Khalil Gibran Muhammad, The New York Times Book Review).In Ghetto, Mitchell Duneier shows how the entanglements of race, poverty, and place in America are connected to the ghettos of Europe. He traces the evolution of the ghetto—as both concept and reality—through the stories of scholars and ...

On March 29, 1516, the city council of Venice issued a decree forcing Jews to live in il geto―a closed quarter named for the copper foundry that once occupied the area. The term stuck.In this sweeping and original interpretation, Mitchell Duneier traces the idea of the ghetto from its beginnings in the sixteenth century and its revival by the Nazis to the present. As Duneier shows, we cannot understand the entanglements of race, poverty, and place in America today without ...

In the spirit of the mega-selling On Bullshit, philosopher Aaron James presents a theory of the asshole that is both intellectually provocative and existentially necessary.What does it mean for someone to be an asshole? The answer is not obvious, despite the fact that we are often personally stuck dealing with people for whom there is no better name. Try as we might to avoid them, assholes are found everywhere—at work, at home, on the road, and in the publ...

Passionate, independent-minded nonfiction from the international bestselling author of ‘The Corrections’.Jonathan Franzen's ‘Freedom’ was the literary sensation of 2010, whilst ‘The Corrections’ was the best-loved and most written-about novel the previous decade. ‘How to be Alone’, is a collection of the personal essays and painstaking, often humorous reportage that have earned Franzen a wide and loyal readership, including what has come to be known as 'The Harper's Essay', Franzen...

In 1950, only 22% of adults were single. Today, more than 50% of adults are. Though conventional wisdom tells us that living by oneself leads to loneliness and isolation, most solo dwellers - compared with their married counterparts - are more likely to eat out and exercise, sign up for art and music classes, attend public events and lectures, and volunteer.Drawing on over three hundred in-depth interviews with men and women of all ages and from across every class, Eric Klinenberg ...

A groundbreaking manifesto about what our nation’s top schools should be—but aren’t—providing: “The ex-Yale professor effectively skewers elite colleges, their brainy but soulless students (those ‘sheep’), pushy parents, and admissions mayhem” (People).As a professor at Yale, William Deresiewicz saw something that troubled him deeply. His students, some of the nation’s brightest minds, were adrift when it came to the big questions: how to think critically ...

Waking Up White is the book Irving wishes someone had handed her decades ago. By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, she offers a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As Irving unpacks her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, she reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race. She also exp...

From a bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, a scathing polemic against the spectacle-obsessed culture that has taken over American life.**“A trenchantly argued critique of the near-destruction of the American Dream by unfettered capitalism.” —**Philadelphia InquirerAn instant bestseller, Chris Hedges’s Empire of Illusion is one of the most striking and unsettling explorations of illusion and fantasy in...

Rajen Persaud brings a refreshingly honest voice to the highly controversial topic of interracial dating as he explores the stereotypes and perceptions associated with it.Why do so many high-profile black men date and marry the most ordinary white women? Why do so many other black men desire and covet the company of white women? And why does this subject deeply touch so many people of both races? Are these provocative questions matters of love, sex, revenge, power,...

"That's so gay!" Most people have heard that before, but what does it really mean? Words have power and must be used cautiously. Accepting someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) begins with first understanding what each of those identities means. Consider common stereotypes of the LGBT community, explore where they come from and what they mean, and decide if they are actually valid. How can individuals do their part to reduce hurtful stereotypes and gain a better pers...