“This vivid autoethnography provides a shattering account of life in the LA ‘gang hoods’—and the warmth and companionship that somehow survives the horrors. A remarkable picture, presented with insight and sympathetic understanding.” —Noam Chomsky
“Bloch unflinchingly peels back all the layers of artifice, hype, and sensationalism to reveal a stark portrait of struggling to survive and make meaning in a landscape of disorder and deprivation.” —Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing
“Going All City is an amazing read that is impossible to put down. Depicting the pain of a childhood spent in poverty, the ambiguity of race, and the subjective experience of policing and gangs, this is the remarkable story of just one of thousands of young people who have found power in the clandestine practice of graffiti.” —Susan Phillips, author of The City Beneath: A Century of Los Angeles Graffiti
“Bloch knows how dangerous art can be for aerosol warriors: their imaginations arrested and expressions pathologized. He also elucidates the undeniable brilliance exploding on walls, utility poles, and underpasses.” —Luis J. Rodriguez, author and former LA Poet Laureate
“Tagging graffiti is a voyage of self-discovery mixed with the danger of street gangs, police, and vandalism. Through his book, Cisco is still tagging his story and name on the walls inside your mind.” —Chaz Bojórquez, artist and LA graffiti writer
—Noam Chomsky
“Bloch unflinchingly peels back all the layers of artifice, hype, and sensationalism to reveal a stark portrait of struggling to survive and make meaning in a landscape of disorder and deprivation.”
—Alex S. Vitale, author of The End of Policing
“Going All City is an amazing read that is impossible to put down. Depicting the pain of a childhood spent in poverty, the ambiguity of race, and the subjective experience of policing and gangs, this is the remarkable story of just one of thousands of young people who have found power in the clandestine practice of graffiti.”
—Susan Phillips, author of The City Beneath: A Century of Los Angeles Graffiti
“Bloch knows how dangerous art can be for aerosol warriors: their imaginations arrested and expressions pathologized. He also elucidates the undeniable brilliance exploding on walls, utility poles, and underpasses.”
—Luis J. Rodriguez, author and former LA Poet Laureate
“Tagging graffiti is a voyage of self-discovery mixed with the danger of street gangs, police, and vandalism. Through his book, Cisco is still tagging his story and name on the walls inside your mind.”
—Chaz Bojórquez, artist and LA graffiti writer