Book Review by Patricia Fraser

Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier

This book takes a look at the lives of street vendors selling their wares on a few blocks of the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The author Mitchell Duneier is a sociology professor who wrote the book after a five year study. It all began when Duneier gets into a conversation with one of the vendors, who ask him if he’s ever read Jane Jacobs, and that he describes himself as a “public character”. Jane Jacobs, in her book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" describes a public character as “anyone who is in frequent contact with a wide circle of people”.

The author had become curious as to the background stories of the men, mostly African American, selling used books, magazines and other wares dug up from the trash and dumpsters. The book chronicles his observations and interactions over the five year period with these men, community residents and local business leaders and policy makers. Duneier writes about the work these men do, why they do it and what impact, both positive and negative is being made to the individuals and also the community surrounding them.

As the author questions why poor, older men of African American descent would position themselves in a predominately White upper middle class neighborhood to sell items derived from the trash, he begins to see how their presence helps define sidewalk life and how that life is beneficial to the neighborhood.
As I read this book, I thought a lot of Jane Jacobs, William Whyte and the plaza observation assignments done over the course of the semester. I agree that what makes city life interesting are the ways that people from all walks of life can coexist informally on the street without becoming intimate. It is true that “the bedrock attribute of a successful city district is that a person must feel personally safe and secure on the street among all these strangers”. (Jacobs, p. 30)

Duneier begins to see that the men act like security for the blocks in which they set up shop. Some of the men are homeless, sleep on the street and panhandle in front of some of the businesses; they look out for and protect each other from the police; because of interaction with neighborhood residents who are also regular customers, there is a sense of safety and community among the vendors, panhandlers and residents.

The vendors also serve many other functions. The majority are formerly incarcerated, and past or current drug users. Their life on the street came about as a result of being released from prison and having no place to go; being asked by relatives to leave, or deciding that they could not function in a socially accepted business environment. They decide to branch out on their own. In their new life, the men are clever, insightful and resourceful; they work for each other setting up and clearing up tables, storing merchandise, finding things to sell, and guarding tables when the owners need breaks or have to be away for a time.

In the research process, the author takes on some of these roles that provide him with firsthand knowledge about the life of the men. In talking to local business owners and policy makers, he gets the stereotypical accounts of the vendors’ impact on the street. One of the most important roles I thought was the role of mentors and confidantes to each other. When someone new started to come around the older men would talk to and encourage them to find a better path in life that did not involve getting in trouble or abusing drugs or alcohol, which could lead to trouble once more.

I really enjoyed this book, even though in the beginning I was skeptical because the author has nothing in common with his subjects. I felt that he could not be as objective or understanding, but as I read, I saw how much he tried to understand and be empathetic to the street vendors. Duneier admitted throughout the book that he was different and could not fully understand the lives of poor, homeless, African American male street vendors, and he knew that as much information as he garnered from his five years with them, they did not fully trust him either.