This study immerses the reader in the world of homelessness and drug addiction in the contemporary United States. The authors followed a social network of heroin injectors and crack smokers on the streets of San Francisco, accompanying them as they scrambled to generate income through burglary, panhandling, recycling and day labour.

Introduction: a theory of abuse --Intimate apartheid -- Falling in love -- A community of addicted bodies -- Childhoods -- Making money -- Parenting -- Male love -- Everyday addicts -- Treatment -- Conclusion: critically applied public anthropology.