Frustrated by the sometimes sterile nature of sociological research, Sudhir Venkatesh, a University of Chicago graduate student, went “rogue.”

During the height of the crack epidemic, Venkatesh walked into the Robert Taylor projects to find out what was really going on there. He befriended a gang leader and ended up studying the gritty underground economy of the projects for nearly a decade. In Gang Leader for a Day, Venkatesh introduces a colorful cast of characters trying to survive during one of Chicago’s darkest times.