I know of this story. I grew up in the area of this story at the same time this was happening, several blocks away. I saw glimpses of this life in 1980, but nothing like what is in this book. The book never gets boring. The black community in Los Angeles was destroyed as a result of what happened in this book. The destruction is still visible today, almost 50 years later. The book gives a real understanding of what was going on in the 80s. It’s not as gritty as what I saw and heard about when I returned from college in 1986. I lived on 52nd and Normandie and have seen people shot and killed. But the book does put you there on the streets at the time of the tragic collapse of the black middle class in Los Angeles. A middle class who became addicts, trying to escape decades of mistreatment by American society. I’m not sure why so many decided to ruin their lives with addiction. but that’s what happened. This book is worth the time.