19102 Philly Book Review: 'On the Run' by Alice Goffman
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"She embedded herself into the environment."
Alarm bells start ringing when you hear the premise of author Alice Goffman’s book, On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City: A white Ivy Leaguer from a more privileged background writes about black males living in a rougher side of town.
But Goffman’s attempt is mostly successful. 
At the time a sociology student at UPenn, Goffman spent six years in a low-income Philadelphia neighborhood that she code-names “Sixth Street.” She embedded herself into the environment and wrote her senior thesis about a group of young men she befriended through a high schooler she tutored.
Her personal connection to her subjects, particularly brothers Chuck, Reggie and Tim, helps to negate some of the issues of an outsider looking in. Though, as her lengthy breakdowns of their slang show, some things are simply lost in translation.
The book often reads like what it is, a term paper — understandable, but the scholastic tone undercuts the impact of Goffman’s experience.
On the Run is strongest when focused on stories. At one point, Goffman recalls hanging out with Chuck and his friend Mike at Mike’s mother’s home, sleeping over after watching a movie. She’s awoken by the sound of the police, raiding the home in search of Mike. She’s forced to the ground and cuffed, Mike’s mother pleading the cops not to shoot her. These moments are powerful, but soon lose momentum when used as examples to prove her thesis.
Goffman’s book will not satisfy those looking for a day-by-day account of her experiences on Sixth Street, but for a glimpse at the psychology of a heavily policed community, it does just fine.
