October 20, 2009
Timothy Black, an associate professor of sociology in the University of Hartford’s College of Arts and Sciences, will read passages from his critically-acclaimed new book
When a Heart Turns Rock Solid: The Lives of Three Puerto Rican Brothers On and Off the Streets (Pantheon Books, 2009 on
Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. in Wilde Auditorium, Harry Jack Gray Center, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford. Black will also discuss details of the 18 years of research that went into writing the book, which tells the story of three brothers he met in the early 1990s in a poor, gang-dominated neighborhood of Springfield, Mass.
Black will sign copies of
When a Heart Turns Rock Solid following his talk, which is free and open to the public. The book will be available for purchase at the event.
When a Heart Turns Rock Solid details the lives of Fausto, incarcerated for seven years and in and out of drug treatment; Julio, a former gang member turned truck driver, fiercely loyal to his family and friends; and Sammy, a father of four and a recovering drug addict caught between the everyday world of low-wage work and the allure of the drug trade. Black examines how jobs, schools, the streets and prisons shaped the lives and choices of the three brothers and their friends and family in Springfield and Hartford.
Kirkus Reviews calls
When a Heart Turns Rock Solid “an impressively long-term, diligent sociological study.”
Booklist says of the book “sociology, economics, history – and powerful human emotions – are all layered in this fascinating look at poverty and the life of one American family.”
Black, who directs the Center for Social Research at the University of Hartford, is a scholar activist who works with human service program leaders and state legislators in developing public policy and service programs, as well as with grass-roots community groups in organizing low-income residents to represent their own political interests.
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