Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit

by Ze'ev Chafets

On the night before Halloween, Detroit explodes in flame. The local citizens call that evening Devil's Night; tourists, sociologists and even some visiting firefighters gather to witness this outpouring of urban frustration when houses, abandoned buildings and unused factories burn to the ground in an orgy of arson.

In capturing Devil's Night and other troubling Motown movements, Ze'ev Cha-fets—hailed as a "1980s de Tocqueville" by The New York Times—returns to the city of his youth. In the early 1960s Detroit seemed like the model American city. Industry was booming as both blacks and whites found steady work in the auto industry. But in 1967 the worst race riot in American history erupted; overnight, Detroit was violently jerked from an existence as a prosperous, integrated industrial center to that of a chaotic, seething ghetto. Chafets goes back to the city where he grew up and learned the facts of life, a city where his strongest friendship was an unlikely one—with a fatherless black teenager from the ghetto—a city where reality set in early when Chafets's own grandfather was killed in a holdup.

Chafets leads us through the wilderness of the distinct subcultures of contemporary Detroit. He meets the black intelligentsia who view their "independent state" as progress for black America; he spends time with cops whose conflicting attitudes of pride in their work and bitterness at their city's staggering crime rate lead to frustration; he explores the growing sects in the Muslim and Christian communities that provide ecstatic, religious escape; he talks to whites from the segregated suburbs to find out why they fled and about the roots of their continuous antagonism; and he converses with Mayor Coleman Young, who, despite the abysmal social and financial conditions of his city, is convinced he is leading Detroit— and its black populace—to a better and brighter future.

Poignant, perceptive, and at times hilariously funny, Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit gives an unprecedented look at what Ze'ev Chafets calls "America's first Third World City."

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Politics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1990

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I live about 25 minutes south, (yes, south) of Detroit in Ontario. Since we are so close, pretty much all our media (except maybe Hockey Night in Canada…) comes from Detroit, and if we're looking to go shopping (especially now that our dollar is worth more) out to eat, or see a concert or sporting event, Detroit is the closest place to go.

Currently there is a HUGE scandal involving the mayor, which is just unbelievable, I'm tired of hearing about it. I'm tired of the people of Detroit being suckered by gansta mayors and related appointees. Detroit taxpayers paying for private vacations, cars for family members and high paying jobs that pay well but don't require anyone present to actually work…

I could go on and on about the pros and cons of living near such a big city with mixed view of it, but suffice to say that we benefit a lot from living so close to Detroit, without the negatives. Things have gotten better there in the last 15 years, but it still has a bad reputation, and y'know what? It deserves it for the most part, in my opinion.

I found this book to be interesting, the writing style was easy to read, and at times compelling. It was written in 1990, before the LA riots, and before the shooting death of Malice Green, who was the Rodney King of Detroit, (but he died, and the officers did go to jail…) Coleman Young who had a penchant for naming buildings and parks after himself (along with a paternity lawsuit against him when he was 71… good example there for the kids of Detroit…) was still mayor (Dennis Archer did a lot to clean up Young's mess…).

If you are at all interested in Detroit, it's a pretty easy read. If the past predicts the present, then this book helps one understand the economic, political, unemployment 'epidemic', drug, and foreclosure crisis that plague Detroit today.

[Channelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I strongly debated whether to give this book one star or no stars at all. I figured the author deserved one star for getting me to spend money on this book (which I will never get back) and actually read it.

I thought the book was going to be about the history and background of Devil's Night in Detroit and other stories that would be a behind the scenes look of the rich tradition of Detroit. I was looking forward to having a new love for Detroit after reading some interesting stories. This book failed on all counts. Not only is it poorly written, but each chapter is very disjointed and the author does such a miserable job of providing detail and emotion. It feels like I'm reading a boring academic journal or history book. I found my mind constantly wandering and I was completely disinterested after the first chapter.

It really is my fault that I wasted so much time reading this book. I just kept hoping it was going to get better. I should have known from the foreword or author's note in the beginning how bad the book was going to be. It is a Jewish author that was born in Pontiac (not Detroit) then moved to Australia at 18 then came back for a year or so to hang out in Detroit and had one black friend. So now he's an expert on Detroit? As if that was not enough, the author says that he did not always take exact quotes but he assures the reader that the dialogue in the book is to the best of his memory and completely captures the meaning of the discussion. Yeah, ok, sure.

This book is a complete waste of time and I will never read anything else by this author again.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a few years living in Michigan, I got curious about Detroit and started picking up books about the city at the library.

This is a great snapshot of Detroit in the late eighties with plenty of historical and cultural background to help people, like me, who didn't grow up in the area. It captures suburban/urban relations well, and portrays both sides critically and empathetically (although I think it's hard not to come out rooting for Detroit given the underdog status). The latter half of the books spends a lot of time on the former mayor Coleman Young, who makes for great material... The man was charismatic, outspoken, and unyielding. I'll be picking up his autobiography soon.

Ze'ev, born near Detroit not in it, and having spent decades away from the country before returning to write the book, is definitely an outsider providing an outsider's perspective. so this isn't a great book for someone looking for an "insider's view" of Detroit. That said, it's an engaging, casual introduction to the city culture and politics.

[Ambrose · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would explore the history and background of Devil’s Night in Detroit and share behind-the-scenes stories that highlight the city’s rich traditions. I was hoping to walk away with a deeper appreciation and maybe even a renewed love for Detroit through compelling storytelling.

Instead, I should’ve known from the foreword how bad this was going to be. The author, a Jewish man born in Pontiac (not Detroit), moved to Australia at 18, then came back to “hang out” in Detroit for a year or so—and apparently had one Black friend. Now he’s positioning himself as an expert on Detroit? It comes off as shallow and opportunistic.

If that weren’t enough, he admits upfront that the quotes in the book aren’t always exact, but he assures us they “capture the meaning.” Yeah, okay—because paraphrasing sensitive conversations decades later always works out great.

The book relies heavily on tired stereotypes and anecdotal snapshots rather than meaningful insight. It’s more of a voyeuristic take than a thoughtful exploration. If you're hoping to learn something real about Detroit’s history, culture, or complexity, skip this. There are far better voices out there—especially ones from people who actually know and love the city.

[Peter P. Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second Time

I read this book when it was first published and this week in Trump-Time and it looses a star. It's a 30-year regression.
I underlined a number of Chafet's opinions and he sounds as if anticipated Trump.
Two points: 1) Johnson's point that "white people don't know shit." If white people didn't understand the classic expression "... hit the road Jack" and thought it was an invitation for thugs to invade the suburbs, then they need to listen to Ray Charles. (Maybe Johnson should have said, "... White folks don't know Jack.")
2) Chafets' didn't get Charlie's sardonic humor.
I put Chafets' book alongside John Hersey's book, Algiers Motel Incident--both writers missed an opportunity to educate this generation. For that, I'm sad.

[Helen]

In the early 1960's, Detroit seemed like the model U.S. city. In 1967 the worst race riot, in U.S. history, errupted. Overnight, it was transformed into a chaotic seething ghetto.

[Brent USA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read about the downfall of once prosperous Detroit.

[Jeff VanDeusen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful for a guy who lived near Detroit throughout this time (1980s) but really had only a vague, distant idea of what was going on. Ze'ev got to talk with just about anyone he wanted. Lots of good lessons here.

[Gerald Kinro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this after a search. Detroit recently declared bankruptcy. Not unprecedented fo a city, but this is a large one. Furthermore the name, Dave Bing spurred my curiosity, for besides being the city’s mayor, he was a basketball great whom I enjoyed watching. Told by a journalist who grew up in the area until the late sixties, this is a descriptive analysis of the city, not a sociological analysis. It begins with Devil’s Night the annual event that has kicked off Detroit’s Halloween season since 1982. It can best be described as recreational arson. No, not simple bonfires, but homes and businesses are torched to the glee of participants and spectators. Through interviews with Whites who left the city for the suburbs after the deadly riots of 1968, Blacks who remain, Arabs who own many of the businesses in the city and its former mayor, Coleman Young, we get a picture of a dying city where many values have been cast aside. Detroit is the murder capital of the world among other dubious distinctions.

This book was written in 1990, and much has happened since. Coleman Young died in 1994 but not before leaving an imprint showing the effects of his “rule” that can be described as hardline pro-black (Some say anti-everything else.) Many businesses who could bring wealth into Detroit have left. Arabs and others who operate small businesses are strongly persecuted against. Today we see a once great city and its suburbs that is strongly polarized along racial lines, if we are to believe what we read and see in the media. I tend not to believe all I read. I also know people who have recently resided in Detroit who will say that life there is not all bad. The decline of the auto industry had something to do with the sorry state of affairs there. Nevertheless, I must ask if Detroit is the harbinger of what other cities in the United States will become? Finally, I can say fairly comfortably that doing things, especially governing and leading while looking at things through a narrow angle lens, a lens such as race alone, is not desirable.

I found the book to be very interesting—fast paced and flowing with good descriptions and interesting interviews. Again, this is not a sociological analysis, but a reporter’s observation. Good writing that reads like a novel.

[Leslie Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fascinating; it definitely addressed a lot of the political climate I didn't know about in the late 80's and early 90's, as well as some of the more *interesting* characteristics and political tendencies of Coleman Young. I did have a problem with this book though, and that was the author's treatment of the friction between the suburbs and Detroit while reporting very scarcely on what was happening in some of the smaller suburbs during that time. Apart from actually spending time IN Grosse Pointe, Southfield, Melvindale, etc. there was really only brief mention of places like Bloomfield Hills/West Bloomfield. The only moment when Chafets really *ventures* into the northwestern suburbs is during a particularly dark trip to Livingston County for a KKK rally. My experience of Metro-Detroit in the early 90's happened during a very rapid development of the burbs: new shopping centers and huge subdivisions right and left where acres of woods and dirt roads had been before. At the same time, I recall my school district being one of the most racially diverse in the area, because students came from many different corners of the area: Walled Lake, Novi, Wixom, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Farmington Hills, Southfield, and in some cases, Detroit. From the time I began school, I had classmates from every race and background, and there was almost never any animosity because of this. I know that my experience is particularly unique, but perhaps Chafets could have sought out more areas with a similar demographic. It would have painted a more ambiguous portrait of what was happening to Detroit at the time, rather than concentrating on the continued divide between the north and south sides of Eight Mile.

[Steve Bouthillette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well done accounting of how and why Detroit had become the third world city that it was in 1988. Fashioned through interviews with people living in the differing ethnic areas and with the politicians that run the cities and townships that make up Detroit area. Author does a fine job of detailing the racial divides and why the city is divided along such defined racial lines.

This book helped to give me some perspective of the struggle that the city and it's people have gone through historically and, in a lot of ways, still struggle with to this day.

Author also gives his account of growing up in the area and adds a nice touch of a relationship that he cultivated, lost and regained over the course of growing up, moving away and coming back to document what Detroit had become.

Also, if you want to see and read about the issues that citizens still struggle with there is a great website at www.detroityes.com. Lots of pictures, links, forums and news. It's not just advertisement. Though there is evidence of a city that celebrates its strengths and its history, there's also a ton of evidence in pictures of the crumbling city that Detroit still is.

[Erika Jost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written, even-handed description of What Is Wrong with Detroit. Some chapters are a little cultural-touristy, others a little sentimental, and the information is only current through the 1989 mayoral election. That said, history is history, and this book should be required reading in every high school in metro Detroit. As a native Grosse Pointer, I'm a little ashamed that some of the content of this book was news to me in my mid-twenties. The author grew up in Pontiac and approaches the tensions in Detroit--racial, economic, cultural--as both an outsider and an insider; he has the sophistication of a writer-anthropologist, but the diligence of his study is fueled by the fierce loyalty of a man trying to understand and protect his childhood home. His perspective is authentically suburban, and he takes this unique opportunity to ask the questions we all want to ask of the people who should have had the best answers.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to read this book two months after the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy in July. It's set almost 25 years ago and the plight of the city has continued much the same for even longer.

This quote sums up the thoughts that ran through my mind as I read the book and still applies today: The [1989 mayoral] campaign posed serious ideological questions that went far beyond the specifics of Detroit. What is the root cause of the desperate condition of African-America--black irresponsibility or white racism? What is the best way for African-Americans to progress--self-rule or a junior partnership with whites? Is defiant struggle merely an evolutionary step toward inclusion in the broader American polity--or is it...the best that blacks can hope for in the United States? In a very real sense, the election in Detroit was a referendum on the contemporary black interpretation of reality. (p 229)

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zev Chafets is one of our most eclectic contemporary authors whose observations are insightful and laced with humor. I have long enjoyed his books which range from this one to a biography of Rush Limbaugh and then to a drive he took in search of American Jews in farflung places.

A native of Detroit and its environs, Mr Chafets returned there after a long sojourn in Israel to try and understand what had become of his beloved city. In addition, he had been very close with an African American friend in his youth and wished to see if he could find him. This friendship, in a certain way, shows the complications and yes - joys- of friendship between whites and blacks.

This is not a diatribe against Detroit nor does it exaggerate its sorry state. As always, Mr Chafets is even handed, humorous and humble.

[Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit skeptical about this book at first. The title and the fact that it was written by a guy who lived in Detroit for a year were both red flags in my mind. Living here makes you a bit defensive, I guess.

It turned out to be an excellent book, though! It's a pretty objective and balanced look at Detroit at a pretty significant point in the city's history, the late 80s. Chaftets' childhood in the metro area and his background living in Israel provides him with a great vantage point from which to observe the struggles of the city and the people living within it.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taught me a lot about racism from the side of the oppressed. It appears to be a mantle that will dog the races for a long long time. The use of the race card is an angry crutch that blinds true open communications. The young boys described in the beginning loved and respected each other, they fell out of relationship, and in the end birthed a new understanding. Will that ever happen across the land and across nations?

[Steve Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow powerful. As a native (like many have since moved away) it explains much of what happened while I was growing up there. He pulls no punches, covers Detroit's state from a number of angles. No finger pointing just some good insights. Wish he could have / would have offer some more prescriptive insights. As this was written a few years ago an - update or footnote would be insightful.

[Marieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to help me prepare for my upcoming family history project and it did not disappoint. While incredibly depressing, the book was educational in a broad sense. The author reported in the first person, yet also remained editorial and emotionally removed. (My edition had some typos, though.)

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had wanted to read this book in hopes of having more insight on the actual Devil's Night festivities. A professor that I had grew up in Detroit and told us all about it, and his stories were so much more intriguing than this book was. It certainly was not what I expected it to be, and I only read a quarter of the way through before deciding it wasn't the book for me.

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off very well. I lived many of those Devil's Night's and the stories hit home. However, the author seemed to sink into one tale after another about Coleman A Young and after a while it became blah, blah, blah...

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read. I'll read it again with pleasure, especially rhe chapter on Livingston County, MI -- "nothing if not tolerant," indeed. For a typically bleak discussion on the decline and fall of the Motor City, this had a very happy ending indeed.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writer returns to his hometown of Detroit and reconnects with a childhood friend. A remarkable account of a slow dying city and the racial tensions that fueled its decline.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and interesting--if harrowing-analysis of Detroit in the 80 and 90's.

[Francis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my kind of thing but I found the history of Detroit's racial tensions fascinating.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not happy but true stories of Detroit; nicely written.

[Joachim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is much more interesting as a historical document than it is as anything else, but it's worth reading for that alone.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a very good read, and I found my heartstrings getting tugged more than I would have thought.

[Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent !

[B.R. Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book -- felt like it had a lot to say about Detroit and this era of the city, from a cultural standpoint.

[John]

non fiction