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Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America Paperback – October 27, 2015

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Jill Leovy (Author)
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Jill Leovy (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 508 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Spiegel & Grau; Reprint edition (October 27, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385529996
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385529990
  • Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (508 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsAn Important and Essential Book That Will Broaden Your Understanding
By Lita Perna VINE VOICE on December 3, 2014
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Gettoside was a word used to by a Watts gang member to describe his South Central Los Angeles neighborhood. The author writes that Gettoside is both a place and a predicament. It is a place where black boys and men are safer in jail than on the streets. Ghettoside is also a frame of mind. It is a place with a culture of violence where the heroes are seen as the villains; the villains are seen as the heroes and all the victims are seen by one detective as some father's child.

By the time you finish this book you will know the heroes (detectives, including those whom the author calls ghettoside craftsmen whose involvement, dedication and self sacrifice is the stuff of which legends are made) and the victims (the focus here is on a good boy, the murdered 18 year old sheltered son of a homicide detective) and the addicts, the whores and the gangster-villains. You will better understand the police culture, and neighborhood culture and what they are all up against. You will understand why there are so many murders.

This is more than a story about heroic and tenacious homicide detectives' almost impossible task of identifying, tracking down, arresting and aiding in the prosecution of the drive by shooter of an 18 year old boy; it is an illuminating history and an exploration of a culture of lawlessness and violence and the multigenerational tragedies of its victims.

Author Jill Leovy, award winning reporter and editor for the Los Angeles gives startling and sickening statistics. She states that lawlessness is its own kind of order and where the criminal justice system fails to respond vigorously to violent injury and death, homicide becomes epidemic.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 stars"Nothing else matters after working murders."
By Bella Rosa VINE VOICE on December 10, 2014
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Jill Leovy's theory, in a nutshell, is that "men [kill] one another to settle disputes or exact revenge in the absence of a trusted legal authority." Even as she details the awful statistics - in 1993, black men age 20-24 died by homicide at a rate of 368 per 100,000 - she maintains that the lack of police presence in minority neighborhoods drives young men to take matters into their own hands.

I get that gangs have stepped in to monitor and control neighborhoods in the absence of other local authorities, but the result is a casualty count that rivals a literal war zone. Leovy uses the story of Bryant Tennelle, shot in the head while walking down Eightieth Street, to humanize the incomprehensible numbers. Bryant's father, Wallace Tennelle, himself a homicide detective, and the detective assigned to the case, John Skaggs, illustrate the changes in the LAPD over the years and the frustrations of working in South Central. Leovy doesn't sugarcoat the problems of bureaucracy, misunderstanding and apathy, but she's also very clear about the bravery and dedication of men like Skaggs, constantly working for justice in a neighborhood where 20 young black men were killed in the 30 days before Bryant Tennelle was shot.

It's an extremely timely topic. Leovy tells a compelling story very well and raises a lot of issues that deserve careful thought.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA dark and violent true picture of South L.A.
By Neal Reynolds VINE VOICE on December 16, 2014
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
I was born and raised in Fullerton, Calif., about 25 miles from L.A., and by the 1960's spent quite a bit of time in and around the city although I stayed away of course from South L.A. I still understand much of what Jill Leovy shows us of the area. This is indeed important reading. This is stark reality. I strongly recommend this to all readers who are seeking understanding of our violent times in all parts of the country.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA book right for the times, now, more than ever
By Nathan Webster TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on November 25, 2014
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
It's easy to be cynical about the inconsistent, over-stressed, under-resourced, misguided and plainly race-oriented American justice system. Whether it's cops on the street or lawyers in a courtroom, the entire system is a poorly-run bureaucracy that moves papers and bodies around but doesn't actually accomplish anything concrete or long-term.

So I was surprised that Detective John Skaggs and some of the others featured here managed to prove that even within this crumbling edifice of "justice" plenty of officers do their best - even when the system would be perfectly content if they sat on the sidelines, slurping coffee and marking time.

It's fitting to write this review the day after Ferguson riots burn buildings and otherwise make race relations a little worse than they were the day before. If you read this review six months from now, you'll probably think "Ferguson? Huh?" because that's the kind of memory we have. I'm certainly tired of police violence that the state bends over backwards to excuse, but at least this book provides a counterweight. In LA, these cops DO investigate crimes, whether it's a gangster or a civilian, and they TRY to put the pieces together to find justice in the name of those who've died.

I most like narrative nonfiction that tries to answer a "why" question. I get that inner cities are full of violence - but why? I get that police and inner city residents have a terrible relationship - but why? I get that cops have a hard time solving inner city crimes - but why? For the most part, Jill Leovy answers those questions in a ways that maybe seem obvious, but I'd never thought of before.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsIt's a good book, give it a try.

This was a very good read. Insightful into the levels of violence and how the police take on the challenges of solving a seemingly endless amount of turmoil.

Published 6 hours ago by dftc
5.0 out of 5 starsI recommend it frequently

This was an amazingly objective anthropological look at south central Los Angeles. I was living in souther CA and working in south central at the time of the writing of this book. Read more

Published 13 days ago by Sabrina
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Really gives a great perspective on an important issue.

Published 14 days ago by Edward Rice
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Depressing and at times gripping.

Published 15 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsA claasic for it's time

This book deserves to be read by everyone interested in Policing, black on black crime, Black Lives Matter movements, police shootings of black males, gangs, their territories in... Read more

Published 15 days ago by Michael Falls
5.0 out of 5 starsShould be called Ghettocide

Once I say down and really devoted myself to reading this, I found the book extremely timely and interesting. Read more

Published 20 days ago by N. Putnam
3.0 out of 5 starsVery slow-moving I like the fact that it was a true story but ...

Very slow-moving I like the fact that it was a true story but I did not get as engaged as I would have liked to be

Published 24 days ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Illuminating account

Published 24 days ago by Marcia Thaler
4.0 out of 5 starsHhhffhbcc

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Published 26 days ago by Greg
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Great book

Published 26 days ago by Amazon Customer

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