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William M. Adler

Land of opportunity: one family's quest for the American dream in the age of crack Hardcover – Collector's Edition, January 1, 1995

by William M. Adler (Author)

4.7 39 ratings

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Attempting to explain why crime is a career choice in areas with few opportunities, the author examines the case of Billy Joe Chambers and his brothers, who ran a complex, multimillion-dollar crack cocaine operation in Detroit. 25,000 first printing. Tour.

Print length

415 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication date

January 1, 1995
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0871135930
ISBN-13

978-0871135933
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Sanyika Shakur
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Most reporting on drug dealing ignores context?"why crack distribution is for so many a rational career choice"?declares freelance journalist Adler. In this unwieldy but sometimes compelling book, he tells the story of the four Chambers brothers, who rose from poverty in rural Arkansas to a triumphant but brief reign as Detroit drug lords. The author's narrative zig-zags between Lee County, impoverished and segregated, and Motown, suffering deindustrialization and middle-class flight in the 1980s. Still, with the cooperation of his subjects, he draws arresting scenes: Billy Joe Chambers's decision to move north; Larry Chambers's criminal grad school in prison; the frenetic barter system at the brothers' crack den; the way a Detroit TV reporter built his rep on the Chambers's story. In 1988, all the brothers got long prison terms. Though Adler succeeds in establishing that the Chambers brothers, despite their crimes, were mainstream American capitalists, he does too little to draw them as textured personalities. 25,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is the story of brothers Billy Joe and Larry Chambers, "crack capitalists" or "ghetto capitalists" now in prison. They came north in the 1980s from Arkansas, where unemployment for young black males approached 50 percent, where many full-time workers qualified for food stamps, and where the per capita income in 1990 was only $6,387. Downtown Detroit was depressed too, and journalist Adler interweaves personal interviews, court records, news accounts, and background chapters reminiscent of Nicholas Lemann's The Promised Land (LJ 2/15/91) to show crack distribution as a rational career choice. He enlarges on the business metaphor to show how sources of supply and quality control were insured and how reliable workers were trained, managed, and recruited from the brothers' hometown. Unlike the individualist cocaine dealer in Robert Sabbag's Snowblind (1976), the Chamberses are portrayed as well-organized mass-marketing distributors, and this book contributes to the literature on the economics of the narcotics trade.
Janice Dunham, John Jay Coll. Lib., New York
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atlantic Monthly Press; First Edition (January 1, 1995)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 415 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0871135930
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0871135933
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.55 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,365,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #89,115 in Politics & Government (Books)
- #122,810 in Social Sciences (Books)
- #220,492 in Biographies (Books)

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4.7 39 ratings

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William M. Adler

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William M. Adler has written for many national and regional magazines, including Esquire, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, and the Texas Observer. In addition to The Man Who Never Died, he has authored two other books of narrative nonfiction: Land of Opportunity (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995), an intimate look at the rise and fall of a crack cocaine empire, and Mollie's Job (Scribner, 2000), which follows the flight of a single factory job from the U.S. to Mexico over the course of fifty years. His work explores the intersection of individual lives and the larger forces of their times, and it describes the gap between American ideals and American realities. Adler lives with his wife and son in Colorado.

For more information about Adler and The Man Who Never Died, including tour dates, samples of Joe Hill's songs, and a gallery of archival images, see themanwhoneverdied.com

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JMichael

Pulls no punches, just tells the story.

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2016

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Incredibly good read. If Detroit crime history or the 1980's crack-cocaine era is of interest to you, Land of Opportunity should be at the top of your list. Along with Dr. Carl Taylor's Dangerous Society, the information and story woven throughout this book makes it hard to put down. I was actually trying to slow down because it was such a good story (and true!) I didn't want it to end.

What I most enjoyed was the "how?" and "why?" aspect as to the Chambers family's foray into the drug business in Detroit. Their origins in rural Arkansas, the dynamic in their own family (running a tavern for their fellow sharecroppers, all the way into the 1970s), their mother's extracurricular side hustles and the blatant lack of upward mobility all contributed to their chosen paths.

Once in a Detroit, it didn't take long for BJ to lose his law-abiding ways and start dabbling in the drug game. What is fascinating is how quickly and efficiently, while still maintaining his likable and fun-loving nature, he is able to dominate crack sales in a foreign city. His other brothers, most notably Larry, enter the picture and things start taking a turn for the darker side of the business, and what seems like in a short time span, the wheels start to come off the train.

I have no complaints about this book. I can see how some could claim Land of Opportunity paints a sympathetic profile of drug dealers and their plights, but the author's aim is clearly to tell the story as it happened, not to paint the subjects in any light other than the truth. This book is full of first-hand information. It paints the subjects (BJ and Larry) as they are/were, and I highly recommend anyone looking for a good true-crime read seek out this book.

2 people found this helpful

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R.M.

A Sad, but True Tale

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2007

Verified Purchase

After watching a documentary about the Chambers' Brothers, additional reading about this family was mandatory. This family, from a small rural town in Arkansas, garnered national attention from non other than fellow Arkansan, Bill Clinton, at the 1988 National Democratic Convention. William Adler documents details that while in no way excuses the deplorable and destructive choices and behavior of the Chambers' brothers, lend plausible insight into social factors that make certain, immediate gratification and fast money, seem the only option available in the eyes of some misguided individuals. For anyone interested in one family's tale that sadly mimicks and represents the story of so many others, this book provides a well-rounded view of what can happen when an uncertain family foundation dangerously mixes with negative socio-economic issues.

3 people found this helpful

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KW

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

Deliverd on time. Book in great condition. Would recommend seller.

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Patrick & Patricia Tolman

interesting book

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book is very interesting. It's not just about some drug dealers. It's about the economy, about young, poor black folk from Arkansas, about being enterprising in a bad economy, about filling a need. It's a really good, complicated book. But yes I recommend it if this is something that interests you. Also it has a lot in it about Detroit, my hometown.

3 people found this helpful

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