The statistics about young black men are familiar; homicide is their #1 killer, one fourth are in jail, on parole or probation, and theirs rates of unemployment, teen fatherhood, educational drop-out-and death-exceed those of any other demographic group. Moreover, in the public mind, even those who don't bear out the grim statistics have come to embody society's worst pathologies. When given the opportunity to speak for themselves, they report feeling as fearful of mere survival as they are feared, as threatened as they are threatening.

Living to Tell About It is the first book to...