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Down These Mean Streets Reviews

• Four and a half stars, really.I wish someone had introduced me to this book when I was 14 years old to let me know someone else was thinking some of the crazy shit I thought and to put my own peculiar road (so different from Piri's) in perspective. I read it for one field lists for my PhD in English, but I was moved by it, by Piri Thomas's voice and the questions he asks himself about race and ethnicity - about what it means to be Puerto Rican when a Puerto Rican can be black or white, but still [...]

• I'm too lazy to write a review of this. It's amazing, and also necessary. That is all.

• Piri Thomas is a young boy who grows up in Harlem and has to face various obstacles and is forced to make vital decisions that will ultimately take a toll on his future. Piri witnesses the injustices and sinful behavior of everyone around him, and he must realize that survival of the fittest is essential. But how can he truly be “the fittest” without eventually leading himself into incarceration? Well that’s nearly impossible in his generation. One of the only reasons he gets through every [...]

• The main characters of this book were Piri Thomas, his family, and his girlfriend Trina. This book is a true story about a guy, Piri Thomas growing up and facing many problems. He grew up in Spanish Harlem. He was dealing with gangs,fights,drugs,money,criminal scenes,and much more. He has to make the right decisions when he left his parents house. An internal problem that Piri faces is that he isn't sure if he should go on with the criminal scence to get money. An external problem he faced was w [...]

• 3.5 stars

• Down These Mean StreetsBy: Piri ThomasISBN: 0-679-78142-0331 pagesPublisher: Vintage Books1967$12.95Down these mean streets by Piri Thomas is a very interesting book. It has a lot of details that would put you into the characters foot. Piri Thomas was a 12 years old kid who lived in the Spanish Harlem of New York. He grew up with his friends and they always had each others back. Piri was a boy living in a poor apartment. In the winter it would be freezing temperature in their house. His father h [...]

• This book is truly amazing. It first caught my eye because it was about a Puerto Rican and as a Puero Rican myself, it loved to see what my own kind have been through before i was born. This book talks about a young boy who goes through many problems in his life and tries to overcome it by changing his ways. I liked the way the author incorporated his spanish slang into it. In the beginning i truly did like the character, but after getting deeper and deeper into the book, i realized the characte [...]

• The book Down These Mean Streets is a memoir about a young Puerto Rican, named Piri Thomas, growing up in New York City. The book is told from the author's perspective and he gives us a brief look into his mind, where he argues with himself on what to do while facing racial discrimination, a life of crime and drugs, an identity crisis, jail time and a religion conversion. After his prison sentence his perspective of things change but only after he finds that he is slowly going back to his old li [...]

• Down these mean streets is a story about a young boy growing up in spanish Harlem. We see him go through alot of trouble and pain as he travels through the art of becoming a man. The main character Piri Thomas has an anger problem and grows up showing lots of violence that eventually lands him in jail. One of the central problems in this book is family trouble. Piri as a young boy feels that his father in some way doesn't love him. 'Pops i wonder, how come me and you is always on the outs? Is it [...]

• The book Down These Mean Streets is by Piri Thomas. The main topic of the book is a memoir, about Piri who struggles throughout the book. The book addresses many problems. One problem the book address frequently about being prejudice and trying to overcome that problem. The setting of the book takes place in New York,in the 20s and 30s. The main character Piri has problems throughout the book with trusting and making executive decisions. The book is interesting in many ways because the author sh [...]

• Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas. This book is a memoir about a kid growing up in spanish Harlem.This book takes place in Spanish Harlem, the main character Piri he has problems with his father and having difficult time to connect.This book is fairly good and interesting to read mainly because this book has a lot of drama and Piri wants to solve his problems without any help from anyone.This book affected me in many ways because Piri started smoking and joined a gang which surprised me. Th [...]

• I didn't particularly like this book I read it for a book report for a biography It's about a boy, Piri Thomas, in his early teens who lives in the segregated neighborhood of Spanish Harlem, also known as, El Barrio. Piri finds, even at a rather young age, that he has to fight to show his strength and bravery. He has to fight people who will later become his close friends; they have to know that he'll be able to back them up and defend himself and keep his 'cool'. Piri is often faced with tough [...]

• I was sick last week so I picked up some light uplifting reading at the library for an extended stay in bed. Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets, being one of the books. I'd read it years ago, and then was recently reminded of it by a fellow goodreader, so I decided to try it again. Seriously, it is a well crafted, well written, highly observant, and intelligent book. Thomas wrote this in 1960's, it was published in '67 – and really since then what has changed? Maybe the current drug of choic [...]

• This is a great book, i enjoy reading it,because it makes me wonder whats going to happen next and keeps me reading it and not wanting to stop.This book connects to lots of larger issues that happens to young teens,growing up in neighborhoods where all you see is violence and drugs.This book can perfectly be described as how hard it is for a young teen to grow up when he feels like he is alone in a cold new world.Some positive things about this book is that the chapters has titles that give's yo [...]

• The book takes place in 1940's Spanish Harlem. This tells of his struggle with poverty that leads him to do drugs. Also he was involved in a gang when he was young, which put him in jail more than once. After being put into jail many times while in there he used it as rehabilitation, promising to change his ways and help others who went through what he did.In general the book was good and the story was very well told by Piri Thomas. What I like the most was the amount of details used so that you [...]

• In Down These Mean streets I learned that it takes a lot of work to notice your mistakes. In the book piri learned from his mistakes becuase he went to jail and then realize that what he did was terrible. I would say that he grew as a person, that he would'nt do the same thing again. This book made me realize that I should'nt do what he did so I won't get thrown in jail. I would recommed this book to evey person because it help me and it will help anybody else. I really like this book and everyb [...]

• Chevere.Took me forever to find this one, but glad it stayed on my list for so long. It was somewhat different than I had expected -- I imagined it to be more 'about the streets,' all drugs and crime and dirty old New York. Instead, the book is about race and identity and coming of age, and it's got a disarmingly honest, straightforward tone that made it fly by.Need to find out what happened to Piri after his return from prison, all I really got was what the author bio told me.

• The book 'Down These Mean Streets' was the first book I've read about a kid like Piri Thomas. Piri was going through poverty and racism. The book cover reminded me of Brooklyn that's why I chose it. Honestly, there were some parts where the same events happened constantly. There were some thrilling events. I wouldn't find myself reading another book like this one. It was mostly about drugs, street fighting, and robbery.

• When I picked up this book at the bookstore, I could not put it down. I walked out the store with the book open and finished reading this book a few days later. All the stories of Piri's youth pulled me into his world. I felt as though I was the one growing up during his time. There were many themes that I could personally relate to, themes of prejudice, racism and struggle. This book is surely a book that will make you feel his joy and pain.

• HEY MY NAME IS TANEYSHA AND I LOVE TO READIS BOOK I READ WAS IN DETENTION ONE DAY CUZ IT LOOK MAD INTERESTING FROM THE COVER THE WAY THE STREET LOOKSSO THIS BOOK SHOWS TO MUCH BAD LANGUAGE WORDS THAT I USE WHEN I AM MADIS BOOK SHOWS YOU THE BAD WAY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS. I WOULD NEVER SOLVE PROBLEMS THAT WAY LIKE CRUSING AND OTHER STUFF.WOULD YOU SLOVE PROBLEMS LIKE THAT BY CRUSING OUT A PRESON? CRAZY!!!!!!!!

• The book was ok. I don't agree with the 'fight hate with hate' mentality. The story is ok, but who knows how much is true. A autobiography from a guy that obviously had identity issues. And blamed everyone else. In trying to prove how 'tough' he was. He only proved how weak he is. It seems he may have figured that out later in life.

• I picked this book to finish out my reading challenge. Turned out to be one of my favorites. It's very real and the characters are well defined. There is some strong language, so when I used excerpts from it, I had to mark out some words. Very relatable text for urban kids, even though it is almost 50 years old.

• Compelling and with incredible relevance,Thomas' portrait of the trials inherent in minority racial identity and hetero-masculinity in the U.S. is profound. However, the work is unapologetic in its rampant misogyny, making it an important read, but not an inspiring one.

• Loved this memoir. The writing is not great but I love that it is not great. I feel like I sat down and Piri told me his story. I love that it was overly edited and Piri's voice come through loud and clear.

• I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars because of the deep emotional connection with the characters and their character development. This book conveyed many emotions in it that the reader was really able to feel and grasp onto. Even if you weren’t able to connect to the events happening in the book, like I was, you were still able to feel and know what Piri was thinking. You were able to feel the pain, hurt, and frustration that Piri had after his mother’s death and his fight with his fat [...]

• Wow, what a book! This book is about Piri Thomas when he was a little boy about 12 years old. The story first takes place in Spanish Harlem. This was an inspiring book because I know what the life it is like to struggle. Thomas's father is diligent, but it isn't enough to support his family. So him and his family struggle for a while. Throughout the book there are knuckleheads that continuously bother Thomas! Most of the time it is because they figure he's black instead of Puerto Rican. Thomas t [...]

• I knew this was going to be a good book, but I really wasn't prepared for HOW good it ended up being! Considering the fact that it's pretty obvious that I'm just a white chick, I hadn't even thought about the identity crisis he was going through. I guess I take my 'race' for granted. I'm who/what I am, and I look like it too. It never would have occurred to me that a dark-skinned puerto rican would be perceived as anything other than a puerto rican. It opened my eyes to a whole different kind of [...]

• It took me more than 40 years to finally get to read Down These Mean Streets. A shame, as it truly is one of the most powerful novels of the time and that generation. What is amazing is that the story of poverty and wealth inequality the author outlined in his coming of age story in the streets of Spanish Harlem still resonates today. A great author. I saw the author present at a conference in the city sometime after the millennium. I wish I could have appreciated the significance of his work th [...]

• Race, ethnicity and growing up in Spanish Harlem are all topics that I love to read about. I’m a sucker for a good memoir especially when it has to do with growing up in NYC. I literally time traveled with Piri and the way this book was written might be confusing at first (because of the language) but then it just helps you understand everything more deeply. I loved it and will definitely be reading more of his books!

• This book is really realistic and gives and an idea on how piri’s life really was. Living an Harlem piri struggled with his own identity. He is not accepted into any group because of his skin color. I recommend this book to anyone that likes books on ethnicity and background.

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