scovery, having sold more than a million copies. This searing novel was written inside of Trenton State Prison in 1968. One of the first literary depictions of black urban life, this hard-boiled novel evokes a unique insight into an often untold aspect of African-American culture. It is based on authentic first-hand Newark street experiences with unique insight into the psychology, motivations and lingo of the shadowy figures who inhabit the ghetto night: pimps, whores, junkies, dope dealers, winos, corrupt cops, young hoodlums and those trying to live the straight and narrow life among them.