On the Run is the story of the six years Goffman spent conducting an ethnographic study in a poor black community in West Philadelphia. Goffman appears to have participated in a serious felony in the course of her field work. As I will explain below, Goffman appears to have participated in a serious felony in the course of her field work-a circumstance that seems to have escaped the notice of her teachers, her mentors, her publishers, her admirers, and even her critics. One must try to keep an open mind about such things-especially regarding someone as obviously gifted and dedicated as Goffman-so readers may disagree with me about the extent of her embellishments. There are just too many incidents that seem unlikely to have occurred as she describes them. A careful reading of On the Run, however, leaves me with vexing questions about the author’s accuracy and reliability. Originally issued by the University of Chicago Press, a paperback edition was recently issued by Picador, following a bidding war for the rights. Her TED talk, which was often interrupted by applause, has had nearly 700,000 views. The success of the book led to a lecture tour of at least twenty sociology departments and conferences. Alice Goffman’s widely acclaimed On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City has drawn more positive attention than almost any sociology book in recent years.
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