Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Jeff Ferrell draws on his own extensive field research to thoroughly examine the practices of graffiti artists. Focusing on the city of Denver, he takes a close look at the war against graffiti and the interplay between cultural innovation and institutionalized intolerance, arguing that coordinated corporate and political campaigns to suppress and criminalize graffiti writers further disenfranchises the young, the poor, and people of color.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Based on his observations, interviews, and his own participation, Ferrell describes graffiti writing as it was carried out in Denver. He discusses the culture of the graffiti "artists," which contains, among other things, an interesting argot, e.g., "tagging," (the writer attaches a stylized rendition of his nickname to the graffiti), and "piecing" (painting a large illegal mural). He also describes the attempts of the Denver authorities to stop graffiti writing. Ferrell asserts that "graffiti writing [is]. . .a crime of style," meaning possibly that graffiti is defined as a crime because its style (what is portrayed in the drawings and how it is portrayed) offends those in authority. He further asserts that graffiti is "a sort of anarchist resistance to cultural domination," which is a rather far-fetched claim. It is difficult to see how graffiti and what Ferrell has to say about it merits a book. The work makes little contribution to understanding either American society or the nature of crime. D. Harper; University of Rochester