This powerful work of gonzo journalism, predating the widespread acknowledgement of the opioid epidemic as such, immerses the reader in the world of homelessness and drug and alcohol abuse in the contemporary United States. For over a decade Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg followed a social network of two dozen heroin injectors and crack smokers in the San Francisco drug scene, accompanying them as they scrambled to generate income through burglary, larceny, panhandling, recycling, and day labor. Righteous Dopefiend interweaves stunning black-and-white photography with vivid dialogue, oral biography, detailed field notes, and critical theoretical analysis to viscerally illustrate the life of a drug addict. Its gripping narrative develops a cast of characters around the themes of violence, racism and race relations, sexuality, trauma, embodied suffering, social inequality, and power relations. The result is a dispassionate chronicle of fixes and overdoses; of survival, loss, caring, and hope rooted in the drug abusers’ determination to hang on for one more day, through a "moral economy of sharing" that precariously balances mutual solidarity and interpersonal betrayal.
Righteous Dopefiend (Volume 21) (California Series in Public Anthropology)
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Author: Bourgois, Philippe
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 8580000702668
Details:
Author: Bourgois, Philippe
Brand: University of California Press
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Paperback
Format: Illustrated
Number Of Pages: 392
Release Date: 29-05-2009
Part Number: 9780520254985
Package Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches Languages: English
EAN: 8580000702668
