The night of July 4. Teenage violence runs wild through the streets, exploding with firecrackers and patriotic celebration. In the Bronx, the police move in to break up a citywide convention of gang leaders. Whistles, shots, pounding nightsticks, and suddenly, six members of "the Family"—the Coney Island Dominators—are alone on enemy terrain. Their desperate flight back to their native turf is a journey filled with murder, rape, and subway mayhem that will leave the awestruck reader at a new station of awareness.

An exhilarating novel that examines New York City teenagers, left behind by society, The Warriors is Sol Yurick’s first novel, and it is a triumph of his imagination and skill. What emerges from this night of madness and orgy has a relevance to the large-scale human experience, a relevance far surpassing its immediate front-page topicality.