Reviews

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

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danastaples's review against another edition

4.0

This was a terribly sad an eye opening account of eight families teetering on the edge of homelessness. It exposes injustices and flaws in our system that kick the poor when they’re down, making it all but impossible for once-evicted families to secure and keep affordable housing, which in turn would give them at least a chance to provide stability for their kids and turn their lives around. It gives the reader a lot of tough questions to grapple with surrounding affordable housing, racial disparities, mental health, and our justice system. Where do we expect a poor, young, black mother with an eviction record (or 5) and criminal history to live? What if she also suffers from mental health problems and/or drug addiction? Too often, no wants them in their neighborhood, landlords won’t rent to them, employers won’t hire them, government aid doesn’t give them enough to survive, their family support is weak, and shelters don’t have enough beds for them. Many of these people seem to have ruined every chance they’ve been given, but others seem to have never had a chance at all. Their children are suffering, and the cycle of poverty continues.

rampaigetheory's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

Excellent book. Excellent work, Matthew kept himself out of the story so we could focus on the people the stories are about, his explanation of how we can help this issue in the future is well researched and thought out.

jenmangler's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a brutal read. There were times I didn't want to keep reading, because it was just so depressing, but the book is far too important to abandon because it made me feel horrible. So I kept reading. I'm glad I did. Desmond made me confront my prejudices and helped me to begin to understand a reality I have no experience with. I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long, long time.

ala2134's review against another edition

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dark informative medium-paced

2.0

Very sad and bleak depiction of urban poverty. Reporting on a few individuals gave an in depth look at the challenges poor people face to stay housed. The author clearly was trying to show the injustices these people face at every turn. While there certainly are slumlords and other companies profiting off the indigent, I don’t necessarily agree with the author that eviction is the biggest scourge facing these communities. Instead, what I noticed in almost every story was that drugs seem to be a bigger problem. The one individual in this book who got out of the trailer park ultimately did so by getting clean and finding a stable job. The author didn’t spend much time connecting the dots there which is a shame. Definitely an interesting perspective, but I ultimately didn’t fully buy his final argument that housing vouchers would solve the problem.

skimsdmb's review against another edition

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5.0

Deeply engrossing storytelling followed by an epilogue of political recommendations that's almost impossible to refute after absorbing the details of the crisis.