Overall, this was a highly enjoyable read. The book presents two important views. The first is an insight into the life of people in the projects. The second is a glimpse into the mind of an ethnographer.
Life in the projects is not something that can be understood by someone who hasn't lived there. But poor locations such as these are a large source of our countries socioeconomic problems. This book gives an outsider's view on the projects, making it a more approachable text for other outsiders. Sudir managed to penetrate to some of the very central characters the culture of poverty. This is something that could only be managed by approaching the problem the way that Sudir did, and that is immersion. So I value this book for presenting to me perspectives that I could only be privy to if I had dedicated the years to living with and studying the residents of a poor community.
Also, this text allowed us to see the first hand accounts of an ethnographer carrying out an ethnography. Even more unique is that this is Sudir's first study. He had very little in the way of experience, and so his insights, particularly those into his own condition, were particularly pure. The lack of inhibition that older sociologists develop is what allowed him to tolerate the crime that he had to witness, and in some ways participate in, in order to become a trusted member of the community. Knowing the problems that an ethnographer must deal with not only assists our own studies of people, but also helps us to better understand our more typical interpersonal relations.
In the end, this was an excellent book and I would recommend it to your future classes.
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