The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-city Neighbourhood - Softcover

Simon, David; Burns, Edward

4.45

6,405 ratings by Goodreads

9781847673176: The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-city Neighbourhood

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847673171 ISBN 13: 9781847673176

Publisher: Canongate Books, 2009

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The crime-infested intersection of West Fayette and Monroe Streets is well-known--and cautiously avoided--by most of Baltimore. But this notorious corner's 24-hour open-air drug market provides the economic fuel for a dying neighborhood. David Simon, an award-winning author and crime reporter, and Edward Burns, a 20-year veteran of the urban drug war, tell the chilling story of this desolate crossroad.

Through the eyes of one broken family--two drug-addicted adults and their smart, vulnerable 15-year-old son, DeAndre McCollough--Simon and Burns examine the sinister realities of inner cities across the country and unflinchingly assess why law enforcement policies, moral crusades, and the welfare system have accomplished so little. This extraordinary book is a crucial look at the price of the drug culture and the poignant scenes of hope, caring, and love that astonishingly rise in the midst of a place America has abandoned.

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Review:

"A staggering depiction of broken urban hearts of America . . . This is reportage of the highest order" (Irish Times)

"If The Wire has given you Baltimore fever, read this chunky, streetwise, drug-littered piece of reportage by the hard-hitting show's creators" (The Times)

"An amazingly clear-sighted yet sympathetic portrait of the American underclass" (Daily Telegraph)

"As thrilling and intense as any psycho-drama . . . this engrossing slice of social journalism is a tour de force that manages to humanise its subjects without exploiting them" (Big Issue)

"A profoundly moving and intelligent piece of social history" (Time Out)

"A brutal critique of America's failed war on drugs, the equality of Simon and Burns's insights matched by a hardboiled lyricism. This is journalism as art" (Sunday Herald)

Book Description:

A devastating portrait of the American drugs war, from the creators of THE WIRE. 'Mind-blowing . . . less a book, more a way of life' The Times

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