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You owe yourself a drunk

an ethnography of urban nomads

by James P. Spradley

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An anthropological study of vagrant culture in an urban environment. Spradley offers a portrayal of skid row men in Seattle in the late sixties documenting their treatment by jails and the legal system in a time before homelessness became a recognized problem. His study in urban ethnography is an example of the direct application of distinctly anthropological concepts and methods to address real-world problems and it represents a challenge to society about our capacity to endure and accept nonconformity and social diversity. --From publisher description.

TrampsSeattleWashington (State)AlcoholismAlcoholicsSociology, urbanAlcoolismeVagabondsEthnologyUrban ecology (sociology)City and town life