Random Family : Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx

Rating:
Summary: Stunning glimpse of urban struggle
Review: This book is mesmerizing from its first paragraph. LeBlanc puts a face on one family's struggle against urban poverty. This is a seminal work because it humanizes the harsh aspect of the streets, moving beyond the statistics and stereotypes. This gripping book reads as easily as a novel. It is an absorbing page-turner that should be required reading for all students of the social sciences.

Rating:
Summary: These are real people in a real world
Review: I am so thankful to Adrian Nicole LeBlanc and the people in this book for allowing us into their lives. I found myself totally engrossed in their stories. Though I often felt frustrated and angry by the choices they made (unwed parenting, drug abuse), I never felt the author was passing judgement. The more I read, the easier it became to understand them and the values and pressures that lead them to make the choices and act as they did. As in any community, there are people to admire, some to despise and most who just do the best they can and teach us to suspend judgement. I became enormously involved emotionally in the lives of Coco, Jessica, Cesar, Mercedes, etc, and the young children who depended upon them. Months later I find myself still thinking about them and wondering how they are.
This is a very important book, creating a bridge of understanding towards neighbors who, though they may live only a few miles away from me, I would never meet in such an intimate, non-judgemental way.



Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking, Frustrating...
Review: I read this book well over a year and a half ago and I stll think about the characters. It saddens me to know that people truly live this way and don't see anything wrong with it. It's sickening but real, raw, compelling and heartbreaking all at the same time. I will agree with many of the reviwers and say that there are a few too many characters and a lot of extra activity going on in the background - it's distracting and makes the story hard to follow at times. Stories like this and "Push" are harsh reminders of how common a way of life this is for so many people. It's sad and frustrating to know that unfortunately, the cycle will repeat itself and continue on.

Rating:
Summary: READ IT!!!
Review: I thought this book was GREAT!! & I couldn't put it down...This book is actually non-fiction & the author is basically chronicling more than a decade of the characters' lives. I'm from the Bronx (the better side of East Tremont tho:) & I feel like I've learned a lot from this book.. The author does not really pass judgement, she lets the reader make up her/his mind on the issues her book talks about: teen pregnancy, drugs, poverty, welfare, crime, etc...I think most teens would benefit from reading this book!! (It sure makes you appreciate the life YOU have & teaches you important life lessons). The only thing that I found confusing is that there are soooo many characters & sometimes the author would mention someone in the middle of the book that she only mentioned a little bit about in the beginning & I would ask myself "who is this?!" & browse the pages I already read for info on that person... but then again, this is a multi-generational family saga!!I think there should be a sequel: I would love to know what happended to Mercedes & Serena & Ceasar & COCO!! I highly recommend this book!!!

Rating:
Summary: I know these streets
Review: As a Puerto Rican and long time current resident of the Bronx, I can relate to some of what this book had to offer. I just question the author's choice to use a reporter's like style in telling this story. It's somewhat devoid of any human element when reading about these tragic subjects. I think that the author let's the reader choose their own opinions, but with the subject matter such as this, she should have given it more reason and solution. Not all Puerto Ricans are like this. Not even close. Another question is why did she choose to tell this story of Coco in the first place. It's riddled with problems that she keeps bringing upon herself with no end in sight. The author keeps telling the same story over and over again. This vicious cycle of age, parenthood and criminality in the Bronx is somewhat depressing and if told, should be accompanied by some sort of opiniated conclusion. I think she could've condensed the reporting aspect. Especaially since the same things keep happening. I feel as though she needed to fill a certain amount of pages for this to called a book. At times it feels like she's just publishing her notes without any editing. I'm giving this book 3 stars only because she spent over a decade on this work and that merits applause. Sadly, this could've been a piece in the New York Times magazine.

Rating:
Summary: Should be Required Reading for Social Studies Classes
Review: Before the first chapter ends, LeBlanc has the reader feeling as if they are looking through a one-way mirror watching the lives of a sampling of personalities from the Bronx. The majority of Americans do not know the details of urban, poverty stricken areas. The flippant attitudes exploited throughout this book towards bearing multiple children from various fathers, involvement with drugs (using and selling,) and money are no surprise to social workers or those from similar backgrounds; however, the middle-class family will gain valuable insight into the force that is "life below the poverty line." LeBlanc brilliantly displays why the cycle of dismissing education and life plans is near impossible to break without drastic intervention--and intervention plans for these at-risk children just don't exist. The title of her book perfectly captures the voyage the reader is about to experience.

Jessica is her example of a beautiful girl who's priorities of being popular and well-dressed lead her to the being a mistress of the infamous drug dealer Boy George. Through him she finds an identity for herself, abuse, and prison time for drug-selling crimes. Boy George is a small time drug dealer that makes it big. One finds him almost too drug-movie-like to be nonfiction.

CoCo is the story that keeps the reader waiting for the happy ending that never arrives. She has a big heart, no backbone, and a dozen kids. While fighting just to keep her own kids alive, she bears the brunt of helping her family and friends.

The final product will make any reader appreciate the inordinate amount of time, research, and thought spent by LeBlanc in creating this from the streets to the press novel-like read about the life cycle of innercity areas. Readers will hope that CoCo and her family were compensated in some way by the author as it is CoCo's life that seems to be this author's most important muse.

This book should be required reading for high school students during their social studies. No text book could accurately convey street life like LeBlanc does in Random Family.

This collection of stories is leading me to research existing non-profits and government programs that address the problems laid out by LeBlanc. I feel the motivation for writing the book was more than curiosity. It would have been appropriate for the author to make a statement at the end of the book stating her motivation, inspiration, and any passion or support for specific non-profit or goverment programs she may have after completing this work.

What keeps this book from reaching more than 3 stars is the big question left unanswered by the end "How can we, as a society, even begin to stop this cycle of drugs, hunger, and abuse?"

Rating:
Summary: What a great piece of non-fiction
Review: My friend recommended this book to me and I asked her what type of book it was. When she told me that it was non-fiction, I informed her that I wanted to read a "story". She told be to just READ this book, and I am so glad that I did. Few fiction books manage to tell a tale as beautifully as LeBlanc's Random Family. After reading the stories of Jessica, Coco, Caesar, and others, you are left with an overwhelming yearning to find out how their lives turned out after this story was written. You will most likely gain a new thankfulness for your position in life even if you are "poor", because these people are beyond that word. It is amazing how LeBlanc puts a human face to those who may be that janitor's in your building, the homeless person at a shelter, or the 20 year old girl on the bus with 5 kids. This is one of the most moving books that I have ever read. A+++++.........

Rating:
Summary: First class ethnography by a journalist
Review: This NONFICTION bestseller has gathered by now so many good reviews that it is probably unnecessary to write another. Nevertheless... "Never read a book through merely because you have begun it" said John Witherspoon (1723-1794). How true. Forty-three chapters and 400 pages of minutiae to describe the deeds and misdeeds of fifty or sixty persons of one extended random family over ten years. Poverty and a short period of wealth, crime and punishment, drugs and honest living, joy and suffering, romance and betrayal. True, many stories appear redundant; you can skip a page or two or even more if you feel like it. But by any means do not miss this book. The pearls it contains make its reading practically compulsive (as many intelligent readers have noticed). It is a masterly written ethnography by a journalist, of a very particular Puertorican clan in the Bronx, probably unknown and strangers to 999 out of a thousand Americans. It should have an enormous socio-political impact (as the author hopes) and at the same time it is great "fiction". A few readers have criticized the failure of the author to pass judgment on the persons involved... That is only one of the major admirable characteristics of the book. Read it and enjoy it.
P.S. Thanks to the "Economist" for recommending it.

Rating:
Summary: This Book Helped Me Better Understand the Culture of Poverty
Review: I could not put this book down. I come from such a different background, yet I identified so much with these women in their struggles for love, acceptance and security. The valiant attempts of CoCo and Jessica to survive was mind boggling and inspiring. The author really captured the entire culture in a way that was neither condescending nor pitying.
My only complaint with the book was at times it was hard to believe these women went back to the men and the life that had so harmed them. Although true to life, it was hard to swallow.