In every large city, there are marginal, criminal types who live on the fringes of the society. They are faceless, ignored or feared. The author had worked and lived in their East Harlem, New York neighborhood. Through a series of in-depth interviews he attempts to give them a human face.

These are documentary stories, capturing not just the life style of addicts, prostitutes, con artists and murderers, but also their suffering and pain. They are seen as individuals, marked by abuse, who show a predisposition to self-destruction, reinforced by their antisocial subculture.

Still,...