Overview

"""For a tough-guy book about tough guys, this is a work of almost unerring tenderness. If its subtitle promises “redemption,” the book itself delivers something more honest: stories about people broken by powers larger than they are and who nonetheless find the will to fight on."" — Ben Ehrenreich, The New York Times Book Review ""Katz has constructed a riveting and masterful urban narrative."" —Lorraine Berry, Los Angeles Times ""A searing account of gang violence and its consequences...Macedo's grim story, expertly documented by Katz, cries for a documentary series to follow his fortunes as, after years in prison, he strives for redemption. A masterful work of true crime—and, to be sure, true punishment.""—Kirkus Reviews (Starred review) Baby-faced teen Giovanni Macedo is desperate to find belonging in one of LA’s most predatory gangs, the Columbia Lil Cycos—so desperate that he agrees to kill an undocumented Mexican street vendor. The vendor, Francisco Clemente, had been refusing to give in to the gang’s shakedown demands. But Giovanni botches the hit, accidentally killing a newborn instead. The overlords who rule the Lil Cycos from a Supermax prison 1,000 miles away must be placated and Giovanni is lured across the border where, in turn, the gang botches his killing. And so, incredibly, Giovanni rises from the dead, determined to both seek redemption for his unforgivable crime and take down the gang who drove him to do it. With The Rent Collectors, Jesse Katz has built a teeth clenching and breathless narrative that explicates the difficult and proud lives of undocumented black market workers who are being extorted by the gangs and fined by the city of LA—in other words, exploited by two sets of rent collectors."

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9781662601736

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Reviews

"""In this lyrical, intelligent, and deeply literary work, Jesse Katz takes us on an unforgettable journey into the mind and life of a forgotten, reviled man. Like a character from Dostoevsky, Giovanni Macedo is a troubled sinner thrust into the cruelty of an urban landscape, a world Katz recreates with boundless compassion, and with painstaking and unflinching detail. Rent Collectors is a landmark of true-crime writing about the city that helped give birth to the genre, Los Angeles."" —Héctor Tobar, bestselling author of Deep Down Dark and Our Migrant Souls ""Few authors or books are able to take a reader deep into the daily machinations of gang life as expertly as Jesse Katz has done with The Rent Collectors. The young, naive, and damaged Giovanni Macedo is at the center of this story of criminal transgression and redemption, but in telling the tale, the humanity of the author's perspective envelopes a cast of characters on all sides of the law, from the Latino gang underworld of Southern California to the scheming nooks and crannies of the the justice system. With insight and compassion, Katz explores the criminal pathology of the Columbia Lil Cycos gang in the McArthur Park area of Los Angeles, but he also elevates this story into the classic realm of great human drama from Dostoevsky to Mailer. The narrative is compelling, and the writing is first-rate. Prepare yourself for a relentless, exciting read."" —T.J. English, best-selling author of The Westies, Havana Nocturne and Dangerous Rhythms"

"""Few authors or books are able to take a reader deep into the daily machinations of gang life as expertly as Jesse Katz has done with The Rent Collectors. The young, naive, and damaged Giovanni Macedo is at the center of this story of criminal transgression and redemption, but in telling the tale, the humanity of the author's perspective envelopes a cast of characters on all sides of the law, from the Latino gang underworld of Southern California to the scheming nooks and crannies of the the justice system. With insight and compassion, Katz explores the criminal pathology of the Columbia Lil Cycos gang in the McArthur Park area of Los Angeles, but he also elevates this story into the classic realm of great human drama from Dostoyevski to Mailer. The narrative is compelling, and the writing is first-rate. Prepare yourself for a relentless, exciting read."" —T.J. English, best-selling author of The Westies, Havana Nocturne and Dangerous Rhythms"

"""For longer than seems humanly possible, Jesse Katz has been one of our greatest chroniclers of L.A.’s street underworld. So it’s no surprise that The Rent Collectors is a tale tuned fine, and filled with some exquisitely cinematic characters – Mexican Mafia honchos [named Puppet], baby mammas, cops, MacArthur Park street vendors, and a lost kid with devil horn tattoos. But I will admit that its appearance causes me some dismay, because, damn, I wish I’d written it.""  —Sam Quinones, bestselling author of Dreamland and The Least of Us ""In this lyrical, intelligent, and deeply literary work, Jesse Katz takes us on an unforgettable journey into the mind and life of a forgotten, reviled man. Like a character from Dostoevsky, Giovanni Macedo is a troubled sinner thrust into the cruelty of an urban landscape, a world Katz recreates with boundless compassion, and with painstaking and unflinching detail. Rent Collectors is a landmark of true-crime writing about the city that helped give birth to the genre, Los Angeles."" —Héctor Tobar, bestselling author of Deep Down Dark and Our Migrant Souls ""Few authors or books are able to take a reader deep into the daily machinations of gang life as expertly as Jesse Katz has done with The Rent Collectors. The young, naive, and damaged Giovanni Macedo is at the center of this story of criminal transgression and redemption, but in telling the tale, the humanity of the author's perspective envelopes a cast of characters on all sides of the law, from the Latino gang underworld of Southern California to the scheming nooks and crannies of the the justice system. With insight and compassion, Katz explores the criminal pathology of the Columbia Lil Cycos gang in the McArthur Park area of Los Angeles, but he also elevates this story into the classic realm of great human drama from Dostoevsky to Mailer. The narrative is compelling, and the writing is first-rate. Prepare yourself for a relentless, exciting read."" —T.J. English, best-selling author of The Westies, Havana Nocturne and Dangerous Rhythms"

Author Information

Jesse Katz is a former Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles magazine writer whose honors include the James Beard Foundation’s M. F. K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, PEN Center USA’s Literary Journalism Award, a National Magazine Award nomination, and two shared Pulitzer Prizes. His writing has appeared in the anthologies Best American Magazine Writing, Best American Crime Writing, and Best American Sports Writing. As a volunteer with InsideOUT Writers, he has mentored incarcerated teenagers at Central Juvenile Hall and the former California Youth Authority. His first book, The Opposite Field, was set in LA’s immigrant suburbs.

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