The Rat That Got Away

A Bronx Memoir

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book The Rat That Got Away by Allen Jones, Fordham University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Allen Jones ISBN: 9780823231041
Publisher: Fordham University Press Publication: August 25, 2009
Imprint: Empire State Editions Language: English
Author: Allen Jones
ISBN: 9780823231041
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Publication: August 25, 2009
Imprint: Empire State Editions
Language: English

The Rat That Got Away is an inspiring story of one man’s odyssey from the streets of the Bronx to a life as a professional athlete and banker in Europe, but it is also provides a unique vantage point on the history of the Bronx and sheds new light on a neglected period in American urban history.

Allen Jones grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx at a time—the 1950s—when that neighborhood was a place of optimism and hope for upwardly mobile Black and Latino families. Brought up in a two-parent household, with many neighborhood mentors, Jones led an almost charmed life as a budding basketball star until his teen years, when his once peaceful neighborhood was torn by job losses, white flight, and a crippling drug epidemic. Drawn into the heroin trade, first as a user, then as a dealer, Jones spent four months on Rikers Island, where he experienced a crisis of conscience and a determination to turn his life around. Sent to a New England prep school upon his release, Jones used his basketball skills and street smarts
to forge a life outside the Bronx, first as a college athlete in the South, then as a professional basketball player, radio personality, and banker in Europe.

A brilliant storyteller with a gift for dialogue, Jones brings Bronx streets and housing projects to life as places of possibility as well as tragedy, where racism and economic hardship never completely suppressed the resilient spirit of its residents. A book that will change the way people view the South Bronx.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Rat That Got Away is an inspiring story of one man’s odyssey from the streets of the Bronx to a life as a professional athlete and banker in Europe, but it is also provides a unique vantage point on the history of the Bronx and sheds new light on a neglected period in American urban history.

Allen Jones grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx at a time—the 1950s—when that neighborhood was a place of optimism and hope for upwardly mobile Black and Latino families. Brought up in a two-parent household, with many neighborhood mentors, Jones led an almost charmed life as a budding basketball star until his teen years, when his once peaceful neighborhood was torn by job losses, white flight, and a crippling drug epidemic. Drawn into the heroin trade, first as a user, then as a dealer, Jones spent four months on Rikers Island, where he experienced a crisis of conscience and a determination to turn his life around. Sent to a New England prep school upon his release, Jones used his basketball skills and street smarts
to forge a life outside the Bronx, first as a college athlete in the South, then as a professional basketball player, radio personality, and banker in Europe.

A brilliant storyteller with a gift for dialogue, Jones brings Bronx streets and housing projects to life as places of possibility as well as tragedy, where racism and economic hardship never completely suppressed the resilient spirit of its residents. A book that will change the way people view the South Bronx.

More books from Fordham University Press

Cover of the book Apocalypse-Cinema by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Theory at Yale by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Our Country by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Scatter 1 by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Education at War by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Communities in Fiction by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Reading Sideways by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Cinepoetry by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Common Goods by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Apocalyptic Futures by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Specters of Conquest by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Looking for Law in All the Wrong Places by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Identity by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Stasis Before the State by Allen Jones
Cover of the book Marginal Modernity by Allen Jones
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy