Land of Opportunity: One Family's Quest for the American Dream in the Age of Crack

by William M. Adler

Book Overview

Part true crime, part work of urban sociology, Land of Opportunity is a meticulously researched account of the rise and fall of the Chambers brothers, who ran a multi-million-dollar crack cocaine... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871135930
• ISBN13: 9780871135933
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 415 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Ain't Nothin' Changed...

A thorough, well-written, engaging story of siblings from a large family facing oppressive racism and few economic options in rural Arkansas, who built a multi-million dollar drug empire in Detroit. Twelve years on, Alder's book is as relevant as ever. Illegal drugs and the collective harm they cause society are oddly absent from the national debate. The new boogeypeople now, of course, are immigrant workers. But drugs continue to ravage urban and rural communities, and middle-class voters become ever more disenchanted, politicians feed the the red herring of jobs lost to border jumpers to keep us all from focusing on the core issues. Those issues, of course, are money and access to it. Though few will discuss as much openly, especially in America, those born into the "lower" classes have nearly no real chance at comfort and success, and those in power have no interest in upsetting the status quo. For the vast majority stuck in the middle, the daily grind of work, school, and child care leaves little time for pushing for significant change. And this all, of course, suits the average politician just fine. Middle class voters aren't losing their jobs to immigrant workers -- but they're having trouble making ends meet in increasingly expensive suburbs. Likewise, the average drug dealer isn't ruining lives that wouldn't be ruined in some other manner (think about it: how many junkies started as truly productive members of society?). But it's much easier to send SWAT teams into crack houses than to address the motivating issues of bad schools and weak local economies. Alder makes the reader confront these questions. He spares no one -- the Chambers brothers are not, by any stretch, sympathetic characters. They are, however, very practical characters. Throughout Alder's narrative, I was reminded of Ed Harris's quote from "Apollo 13": "let's work the problem, people." For the Chambers family, the problem was a lack of any sort of opportunity whatsoever in a South that remained as segregated and stratified as ever. For them the solution was simple and market-oriented: supply an in-demand product at a competitive price, with unsurpassed customer support. The problems facing the poor today are much the same, and the solutions are still missing.

Great Investigative Reporting

Land of Opportunity is an intriguing book that steps away from the simple glorification of drug dealing and "hood living". William Adler did a superb job of investigative reporting. This book not only chronicles the rise and fall of the Chamber Brothers, it details the socioeconomic conditions that help create them. Although their actions should never be accepted, this book adequately explains why such a horrible decision was feasible to someone in that situation. Adler investigates not only the Chambers, but the economies of the Mississippi Delta and Detroit during Reagonomics. In one of the most enlightening moments in the book, the true nature of the war on drugs is established when he discusses the sentencing of Chambers and associates, including their suppliers. This book is a must read for all who believe the war on drugs will be won with tougher sentencing and mandatory minimums.

Entertaining and a very realistic portrayal of the Dee.

I lived through this period (late teens) in Detroit and can attest to the influence of the Detroit Drug organizations. In fact, they are probably understated in this book. It was an invigorating, exciting, yet somewhat frightening time to be alive.But enough about that, it's an excellent read, perhaps a little on the "academic" side with the sociological profile of Arkansas.But rest assured, Billy Joe, White Boy Rick, Larry, and some of the others were definitely celebrities. As a high school student, we knew who they all were.

not exactly what Jack Kemp had in mind

This is a tale of inner-city enterprise to chill a good Republican's blood (although libertarians will cheer). Adler has used his impressive access to the Chambers family to spin a great yarn, but that's not all. "Land of Opportunity" is also a subtle but effective polemic on America's up-by-the-bootstraps myth.

Fascinating and chilling

The story of how the Chambers Brothers built an empire out of crack cocaine in Detroit in the 1980s. I was living in downtown Detroit during the time that crack arrived, and it was frightening to see the changes it brought to the city in a short time. Crack addicts aren't like junkies; junkies buy smack, shoot up and for the next few hours they're cruising, blissed out. Crack addicts are different- after they smoke crack, they just want more. Crack keeps promising a better high it never quite delivers. And crack destroys the minds of addicts the way smack never did. My neighborhood became, in a few years, a dangerous place to be outdoors at night. Four people- one an infant- were killed within two blocks of my house in one year by addicts. This book is the best single volume I've ever seen on the lure and the effects of the drug trade in the city, and on the history of the southern US and the economics and race relations that serve as a backdrop to the story. It's meticulously researched and detailed, and the author had the full cooperation of almost all the principles involved. Riveting reading.