Review by New York Times Review
GOD SAVE TEXAS: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State, by Lawrence Wright. (Vintage, $16.95.) Wright, a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist and longtime resident of the state, explores Texas' foibles, ironies and contradictions with affection. Given the state's booming population and economic growth, Wright's book seems to say, America's future runs through Texas - whether the rest of the country likes it or not. HOW IT HAPPENED, by Michael Koryta. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $16.99.) In this murder mystery, Rob Barrett, an interrogation specialist with the F.B.I., is sent to investigate a double homicide that's rattled the town of Port Hope, Me. He believes the confession by a young addict, who directs him to where she says the bodies can be found. But when the details don't seem to pan out, he's kicked off the case. UNEASY PEACE: The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence, by Patrick Sharkey. (Norton, $16.95.) What's the downside to falling crime rates nationwide? In Sharkey's analysis, what was done to make those rates plunge included increased incarceration rates and violent policing tactics. This book admirably connects the story of how the country became safer with why many communities are wary of the police. A LONG WAY FROM HOME, by Peter Carey. (Vintage, $16.95.) A married couple and their bachelor neighbor set out on a 10,000-mile endurance contest around Australia in the hopes of eventually opening their own auto dealership. Our reviewer, Craig Taylor, praised this shape-shifting, propulsive novel, writing: "With all its inventive momentum, all its pleasurable beats, the fast pace of the race, the scenery unfurling, the novel ends up far from where it started, in a place of historical reckoning and colonial guilt." THE MAKING OF A DREAM: How a Group of Young Undocumented Immigrants Helped Change What It Means to Be American, by Laura Wides-Muñoz. (Harper, $17.99.) WidesMuñoz chronicles the battle for immigration reform through the stories of young activists. A centerpiece of the story is the passage in 2012 of the DACA act, and how it grew out of close to two decades of grass-roots efforts and political activity. CALL ME ZEBRA, by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi. (Mariner, $14.99.) In this crackling novel, a bookish Iranian in exile retraces the journey she took with her father, and finds love along the way. As our reviewer, Liesl Schillinger, wrote, the author "relays Zebra's brainy, benighted struggles as a tragicomic picaresque whose fervid logic and cerebral whimsy recall the work of Bolaño and Borges."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [March 10, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* This is a well-documented, thoughtful look at major American cities and their comeback from deserted ghost towns to thriving urban centers. Sharkey, sociology-department chair at NYU and scientific director of Crime Lab New York (an independent organization dedicated to reducing crime, violence, and poverty), analyzes change catalysts from past decades, introduces current programs and initiatives producing positive results, and identifies resources to continue forward progress. He cites crime and demographic statistics as he integrates interview and field-work insights. (Analyses address data from urban areas across the U.S. not just New York.) His key points: inner-city violence has undeniably declined, primarily due to diverse groups (citizens, police and legal systems, community organizations) working together to reclaim public spaces; the most disadvantaged members of society benefit the most from urban improvement (especially young African American males); and there is need for substantial, sustained financial support, ongoing professional training for all involved constituents, and continuing challenges to long-held principles, practices, and attitudes. Sharkey presents his arguments logically, acknowledging and contextualizing seemingly contradictory scenarios (e.g. Chicago, Las Vegas, St. Louis). This engaging, readable offering should attract interest from city planners, law enforcement, urban dwellers, and anyone concerned about our cities.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Providing background on recent reductions in urban crime and the need to prevent an increase in crime and violence, Sharkey, chair of New York University's Department of Sociology and author of Stuck in Place: Urban Neighborhoods and the End of Progress Toward Racial Equality, makes the case that the movement against urban inequality must focus not only on justice but on investment. He recommends that the principles of "durable urban policy should guide this effort" of housing equality. Investing in affordable housing, confronting joblessness, supporting working parents, bolstering wages of workers at the bottom, and providing access to quality education are some of the areas offered as in need of improvement and involvement. Verdict Well documented with numerous footnotes, this book is recommended for students of urban policy and sociology as well as city planners.-Karen Venturella Malnati, Union Cty. Coll. Libs, Cranford, NJ © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A sociologist's account of the "stunning" decline in urban American violence in the past two decades.In a nuanced work based on three years of research on the ways in which dwindling crime has "altered" city lifemainly for the betterSharkey (Chair, Sociology/New York Univ.; Stuck in Place: Urban Neighborhoods and the End of Progress Toward Racial Equality, 2013) provides significant new data showing how, since the 1990s, cities have come back to life. Families returned from the suburbs. Poor neighborhoods attracted newcomers. Schools became safer. Fewer homicides sparked "an improvement in the life expectancy of black men that rivals any public health breakthrough of the last several decades." Indeed, "2014 was the safest on record in New York, and one of the safest in U.S. history," he writes. Quick to note that most Americans don't believe these trends (largely due to crime-heavy local news reporting and outright misleading news), Sharkey shows how an era of intensive policing, punitive criminal justice policies, aggressive prosecution of offenders, unprecedented incarceration, and uncommon mobilization of community residents has produced these remarkable changes. He examines how neighborhood organizations have emerged as "guardians" of urban spaces, the roles of private security and surveillance, and the many benefits of safer streets, especially for the disadvantaged. There are excellent sections on how children are affected by inequality and violence, the changing nature of life in gentrified Harlem and Washington, D.C.'s Shaw neighborhood, and the role of videos in unleashing "intense, visceral anger" in poor communities over clashes with police. With signs that violent crime has risen in the last few years, the author argues that sustained investment in stronger neighborhoods (preparing them for the coming return of incarcerated residents), with more community-minded police and other advocates, must occur under concerted action by the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.A rich, complex book that makes splendid use of data to trace the recent renaissance of city neighborhoods and how children and the poor flourish in a time of relative peace. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
