{"product_id":"down-these-mean-streets-a-memoir-9780679781424","title":"Down These Mean Streets: A Memoir","description":"\u003cb\u003eA modern classic of manhood, marginalization, survival, and transcendence--and a lyrical memoir of coming of age on the streets of Spanish Harlem. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A report from the guts and heart of a submerged population group ... It claims our attention and emotional response.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThirty years ago Piri Thomas made literary history with this lacerating memoir. Here was the testament of a born outsider: a Puerto Rican in English-speaking America; a dark-skinned morenito in a family that refused to acknowledge its African blood. Here was an unsparing document of Thomas's plunge into the deadly consolations of drugs, street fighting, and armed robbery--a descent that ended when the twenty-two-year-old Piri was sent to prison for shooting a cop. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs he recounts the journey that took him from adolescence in El Barrio to a lock-up in Sing Sing to the freedom that comes of self-acceptance, faith, and inner confidence, Piri Thomas gives us a book that is as exultant as it is harrowing and whose every page bears the irrepressible rhythm of its author's voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Piri Thomas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/25\/1997\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.58lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.96h x 5.32w x 0.77d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780679781424\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2017 pg. 50\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePIRI THOMAS\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003ewas born of Puerto Rican and Cuban parents in New York City's Spanish Harlem in 1928. Poverty in the ghetto led him to drugs, youth gangs, and a series of criminal activities, for which he served seven years in prison. There he began his life of rehabilitation, vowing to use his street and prison experience to turn youths away from lives of crime. Mr. Thomas then lectured at schools and universities across the country, and authored several books including \u003ci\u003eSavior, Savior, Hold My Hand; Seven Long Times; \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eStories from El Barrio. \u003c\/i\u003eHe died in 2011, at the age of 83.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Piri Thomas \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":47598552252573,"sku":"9780679781424","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_657b3c41-6aa7-4562-8b26-1daf945149d3.jpg?v=1769515910","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/down-these-mean-streets-a-memoir-9780679781424","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}