A fairly comprehensive monograph, highly suitable for classroom use, that offers a wide range of information fit into traditional anthropological categories...an interesting study of cultural integrity and pattern in a setting of what appears to be complex sociopolitical chaos. American Anthropologist ""Whether or not one accepts Susan Lobo's optimistic analysis, her ability to translate the apparent chaos of shanty-town lives into such neat patterns and to help outsiders view life as the inhabitants do are important contributions."" Inter-American Review of Bibliography ""An extremely competent ethnography, simple and straightforward."" Anthropos ""A pleasure to read, a mine of information which will be useful in teaching students to formulate their own hypotheses."" International Journal of Urban & Regional Research ""Very well written and provides a great wealth of the liveliest sort of ethnographic detail."" Latin American Research Review ""Lobo's study of two squatter settlements in Lima provides a solid, well-written, detailed, traditional ethnography of poor families in a Third World urban setting."" Hispanic American Historical Review ""This well-written account ...has a lot of heart and feeling for the human face of the urban poor. "" International Migration Review