There was more to be learned on Chicago's Southside than the reading, writing, and religion taught in schools. In this memoir, authors James T. Joyce and James T. Joyce present a collection of stories about what they learned growing up in an Irish-Catholic neighborhood in the 1950s and '60s on Chicago's Southside.
The Guys in the Gang narrates how the neighborhood nurtured love, camaraderie, family values, and racial hatred. It tells of how religion shaped their lives; describes the frequently illegal (but mostly harmless) antics of teenaged boys; discusses the broadening experiences of college and the army; and recalls an assortment of jobs, from the brutally boring and noisy factory work to business in foreign embassies to fighting fires. It tells of people met and befriended, from the super-rich to inept Korean golfers who feared imaginary tigers, including poignant and entertaining snippets from their lives.

With humorous touches, The Guys in the Gang describes how this group forged bonds of friendship that endured monkeys and mortal losses, and how the guys supported each other through high times and dark valleys.