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timelapse's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.75
an excellent work of ethnography but the author’s faithfulness to recreating every detail of the subjects’ experiences left extended swaths of narration feeling utterly disconnected from meaningful sociological observations and honestly was so bleak it made me nauseous to read at times. the epilogue was great and made me glad i read through it but it should have come way earlier. i do think there also should have been more interspersing of personal narratives to illustrate greater flaws within the system. not nearly enough fanfare was given to the intricacy and sheer amount of research + narrative investigation that went into this book. the way desmond illustrated how nuisance property ordinances meant that women - especially black women - experiencing domestic violence were vulnerable in yet even more ways was some of the most meaningful and impactful parts of the book for me--but not every single anecdote in the book is as neatly tied in.
neladon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
meekoh's review against another edition
5.0
"If incarceration had come to define the lives of men from impoverished black neighborhoods, eviction was shaping the lives of women. Poor black men were locked up. Poor black women were locked out." - Matthew Desmond
It's time to discuss the flip side of mass incarceration in the United States. When black men are locked up at record high levels, they leave behind women with multiple children to survive as single-income households.
This book uncovers the lucrative business of being a slum landlord. It also explores the laws and housing practices that contribute to trapping low-income tenants in dangerous situations. To address extreme poverty in the U.S., you have to understand the root causes and this book exposes them.
mgmacavoy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
txaggie2016's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
karnaconverse's review against another edition
Encourages readers to answer a single question: do we believe that the right to a decent
home is part of what it means to be an American?
Even though this award-winning book was published in 2016 and based on research conducted in 2008, Desmond's stories about the people he interviewed, accompanied around the neighborhood, and lived with reveal how much an individual's or family's survival depends on having a place they can call home. Within each individual's story, he deftly weaves in social issues of affordable and safe housing, addiction, mental illness, education and job preparedness, foster care, poverty, governmental benefits, and race. It quickly becomes obvious that one issue begets another and another and another.
The author's website turns the narrative into a call for action, with four study guides available for discussion and with opportunities to dig deeper. This question, from the faith-based guide emphasizes the local community: "There seems to be a connected community of people that benefit from evictions as well: the moving companies, the landlords, and the management company at the trailer park. Do they have any spiritual responsibility to the people in the neighborhoods where they work, or are they simply supporting their livelihood?" and this question--"What is the best way to address the affordable housing crisis: through government policies, market mechanisms, church initiatives, or something else?"--shows just how wide-ranging the conversation needs to be.
2024 Des Moines Library: series of discussions about poverty in Iowa
2024 Omaha Library Challenge: Read a book about social justice.
home is part of what it means to be an American?
Even though this award-winning book was published in 2016 and based on research conducted in 2008, Desmond's stories about the people he interviewed, accompanied around the neighborhood, and lived with reveal how much an individual's or family's survival depends on having a place they can call home. Within each individual's story, he deftly weaves in social issues of affordable and safe housing, addiction, mental illness, education and job preparedness, foster care, poverty, governmental benefits, and race. It quickly becomes obvious that one issue begets another and another and another.
The author's website turns the narrative into a call for action, with four study guides available for discussion and with opportunities to dig deeper. This question, from the faith-based guide emphasizes the local community: "There seems to be a connected community of people that benefit from evictions as well: the moving companies, the landlords, and the management company at the trailer park. Do they have any spiritual responsibility to the people in the neighborhoods where they work, or are they simply supporting their livelihood?" and this question--"What is the best way to address the affordable housing crisis: through government policies, market mechanisms, church initiatives, or something else?"--shows just how wide-ranging the conversation needs to be.
2024 Des Moines Library: series of discussions about poverty in Iowa
2024 Omaha Library Challenge: Read a book about social justice.
jesssicaweil's review against another edition
4.0
Read via audiobook. I may have gotten more out of it if I had read a print version (since there are so many names to keep track of), but ultimately am glad I read this even if I didn’t catch everything.
Bottom line is eviction results in the destabilization of communities and families and (obviously) does not help with job retention, and the laws currently in place in the US reinforce the cycle of poverty and often encourage eviction. Would recommend reading if you’d like to learn more in detail from the pov of the families living in poverty in Milwaukee.
Bottom line is eviction results in the destabilization of communities and families and (obviously) does not help with job retention, and the laws currently in place in the US reinforce the cycle of poverty and often encourage eviction. Would recommend reading if you’d like to learn more in detail from the pov of the families living in poverty in Milwaukee.