Gangster Life as a Business
The main theme of the book is not gangster life per se, but the way in which J.T. and other leaders like him considered it to be a business, and ran it as one would run a profitable, legitimate corporation. J.T. even instigated a kind of pension plan for his foot soldiers, making sure that money was put aside for them. He viewed the career of a gang member as just that - a career. Because of this, he was a big believer in foot soldiers going to school, getting their G.E.D. (in fact, he insisted upon it) and fulfilling their potential. Hard work and loyalty were rewarded, and promotion was always possible.
This was the case primarily because J.T. had come from the corporate world but was frustrated by it and saw more potential in being a gang leader in terms of what he wanted to achieve. Sometimes, to the outsider looking in, a gang can seem like a disorganized and lawless entity, but the book shows that in many ways it is quite the opposite. There are rules, regulations, specific defined roles, goals and aspirations. This is one of the main themes in the book and also one of the biggest surprises to the author when he begins his research and study project alongside J.T.
Crime
Because it is a book about a gang leader, one of the main themes of the book is crime. The crimes described in the book are wide and varied. Not all are violent. For example, the local car bodyshop is run like a legitimate detailing business, where gang member customers pay the going rate for detailing services, the only difference being that their vehicles have been involved in crimes, and the team of mechanics and detailers working at the shop are all experienced in the art of fixing up damage to vehicles involved in criminal activities.
There are two key areas from which criminal activity stems; drug dealing, and protection rackets. J.T. has constructed an efficient and successful drug selling and delivery network which employs his underlings and the gang's foot soldiers as intermediaries between himself and his customers. There are also many protection rackets, where business owners pay a monthly fee to the gang so that they will not be hurt or their business destroyed.
Official Corruption
There is large scale corruption amongst the neighborhood's elected officials, although Ms Bailey, the chief offender in this regard, does not swindle her constituents out of anything. Instead she accepts bribes from companies looking to be hired by the city to undertake improvements; for example, if the children's playground in the project needs to be fixed, she accepts financial bribes from companies who would like to be given the contract to fix it. The highest payer wins her recommendation and therefore the contract. The book shows the enormous amount of corruption at work on a daily basis within local government offices, and also looks at how this corruption affects the citizens living there.
Family
J.T. is a loyal family member and considers inviting the author to spend time with his mother one of the greatest compliments he can give a person. J.T. values family loyalty above almost anything else, and has two families to whom he is loyal, his gang family and his actual biological family. Sudhir is invited into the family home where he is surprised to see the respect with which J.T. treats his mother, and the positive relationships that exist between all members of J.T.'s family.
