"Calling on a decade of participant observation at a residence for mentally retarded adults, anthropologist Michael Angrosino's riveting and demystifying account offers an insider's picture of the lives of the inhabitants of Opportunity House.

Using a dozen fictional short stories told in the voices of various community members, as well as in that of the researcher, Angrosino uses a life-histories approach to ethnography together with an innovative culture concept to tackle the complexities of representing marginalized groups. As opposed to traditional clinical or statistical studies, which insufficiently conveyed the subjective and experiential perspectives of individuals themselves, Angrosino presents an intimate and complex picture of a highly functioning community with its cast of entrepreneurs, bullies, victims, and do-gooders.

This account is a resource for those interested in mental illness and disability, as well as a model for those experimenting with forms of ethnographic writing."--BOOK JACKET.