Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground: 21 (Alternative Criminology) - Tapa dura

"In his first book, fan and socio-anthropologist Snyder doesn't just celebrate urban street art and its rising stars, but takes a thorough look at its history and future, the language of public art and the idea of the graffiti artist as criminalincluding an intriguing challenge to the `broken windows theory' cited by law enforcement and NYC government officials as central to their efforts. Along the way he decodes a backdoor in the East Village covered with a dozen different tags'in the same way that the sedimentary layers of ancient ruins inspire archaeologists to tell tales of past civilizations'profiles rising and established stars, and takes a raw, detailed tour of the scene. . . . Snyder's `the kids are alright' assessment, buttressed by many examples of thrill-seeking taggers finding successful careers in art, design, publishing, and (commissioned) mural-painting, is well-articulated, convincing, and quite possibly reassuring for the urbanites living among (or perhaps raising) today's writers and bombers." * Publisher's Weekly Starred Review * "The book contributes to our understanding of graffiti, getting beyond simple explanations of graffiti or generalizations about graffiti writers. Open-minded art lovers, as well as visual sociologists, will enjoy the integration between images and text.Snyders book makes an admirable contribution toward our understanding of this fascinating form of vandalism, art, resistance, space claiming, and identity making." * Social Forces * "Graffiti writers, the book argues, cannot be understood merely as practitioners of vandalism and social disorder, but also as members of a diverse subculture who, in many cases, have used their experiences to build legitimate careers." * The New York Times * "Graffiti Lives [is] an important text for emerging research connecting cultural criminology and green criminology." -- Avi Brisman * Crime, Law & Social Change * "Graffiti lives! proclaims author Snyder in this new, vaguely academic account of graffiti in the urban undergroundparticularly New York." * New York Post * "Outstanding, innovative, and multidimensional. . . . I can easily see this book becoming the new & best book on graffiti" -- Joe Austin,author of Taking the Train: How Graffiti Art Became an Urban Crisis in New York City "Will prompt readers to look again at graffiti scrawls they may previously have ignored." * Kirkus Reviews * "Layered, fascinating and compelling, Graffiti Lives is of interest to scholars and general readers alike. Raw, energetic pictures complement the intense prose. The book is as exciting as the transgressive art it documents." * M/C Reviews *