From Publishers Weekly
Bing profiles archrival Los Angeles teenage gangs the Crips and the Bloods in a harrowing docuchronicle--which received a PW boxed review in cloth--that should be read by all concerned with the future of urban America. $40,000 ad/promo; author tour. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.



"Poignant."



"Fascinating and frightening."



"Ambitious and provocative."



"A powerful portrait of life on the streets."



"Bing is a reporter of remarkable vividness and subtlety ... passionately objective . . . a remarkable, compellingly readable piece of reporting."



"Shocking."


Book Description
Do or Die is the first insider account of teenage gangs--the lives, loves, and battles of children who kill--from the only journalist ever allowed inside this closed and dangerous world. This is no West Side Story. Welcome to a world where teenagers wear colostomy bags and have scrapbooks filled with funeral invitations; where a young man, after being shot in the chest, drives himself to the hospital; where another youngster, caught in crossfire, uses his girlfriend as a human shield; where teenage gangsters are kidnapped, tortured, and held for six-figure ransoms; where kids hum the latest movie's theme music while killing people. It's a world of clickheads, sherms, bangers, ballers, and mummyheads; a world where the strongest feelings of family come from other gang members; a world where the most potent feelings of self-worth come from murder.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Do or Die is the first insider account of teenage gangs—the lives, loves, and battles of children who kill—from the only journalist ever allowed inside this closed and dangerous world.

This is no West Side Story. Welcome to a world where teenagers wear colostomy bags and have scrapbooks filled with funeral invitations; where a young man, after being shot in the chest, drives himself to the hospital; where another youngster, caught in crossfire, uses his girlfriend as a human shield; where teenage gangsters are kidnapped, tortured, and held for six-figure ransoms; where kids hum the latest movie's theme music while killing people. It's a world of clickheads, sherms, bangers, ballers, and mummyheads; a world where the strongest feelings of family come from other gang members; a world where the most potent feelings of self-worth come from murder.

FROM THE CRITICS

Chicago Tribune

Ambitious and provocative.

Los Angeles Times

Fascinating and frightening.

San Francisco Chronicle

Shocking.

Houston Chronicle

The testimonies Bing elicits are always fascinating [as she] lets gang members speak for themselves and at length, weaving together their stories with scene-setting narrative that reveals her deep caring for these violent youths.

New York Times Book Review