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caffeineauthor's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
dkortes's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.75
duparker's review against another edition
4.0
This was a depressing book. It reminded me of the book I read last year on pawn shops and pay day loans. That said, everyone should read it. It is starling how poor and alone people can be in this country, and how much impact reading a 300 page book can have on your outlook on depravity. The text is jarring, but the illustrations are even more so. I didn't score this a five, because I don't think I could read it again.
annepw's review against another edition
2.0
Ach. This book. It drives me crazy. It garnered a second star because I was moved and enlightened by the descriptions of the dire poverty in which the people of the first four sections live; I'm embarrassed to admit I never realized just how bad things were, for example, on Indian reservations. But the fifth section fixation on the Occupy movement is, in hindsight, embarrassing and wrongheaded--not simply because the movement did not have the effect Hedges predicted, but also because that movement didn't directly address the plight of the people in the first four sections. It made me feel like Hedges was merely using their predicaments to make a political point, specifically a pro-Occupy advertisement. I'm an ardent liberal but even I found Hedges's soap-boxing tiresome and his points over-the-top and unsubstantiated. By the time I finished the book I was ready to throw it at a wall.
Joe Sacco's sections didn't annoy me. They didn't comment on the subject's lives and the art was lovely. I have no objection to that. Read for FYSP 128 Fall 2013.
Joe Sacco's sections didn't annoy me. They didn't comment on the subject's lives and the art was lovely. I have no objection to that. Read for FYSP 128 Fall 2013.
captain_a's review against another edition
3.0
The book kind of lost me on the final chapter. The beginning of the book offers insight into social issues plaguing various parts and people in the country -urban blacks, rural whites, native Americans and Latino migrant workers. It also offers these tiny packets of resistance in these areas. But the final chapter, set against the backdrop of the Occupy Wall Street movement, starts to go off the deep end. Moreover, it doesn't really stand the test of time since OWS is generally regarded as a failed movement.
kevinm56's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book, but I did not enjoy reading it. It opened my eyes to things that perhaps I don't want to think about. It reminded me what a shitty deal the Native Americans got, how hard it is for people in the impoverished inner cities to break out and be successful, how easy it is for people to abuse undocumented migrant farm workers, and how the extraction industries lay waste to the environment as they rip coal, oil or other resources from the earth.
With the benefit of hindsight, I do think his rah-rah opinion of the occupy movement was off base. As best I can see, it's dead. I googled it right before writing this and there wasn't much going on at all. The tea party, on the other hand, is still with us - and having an influence on politics and policy. I feel the disorganized and chaotic nature of the occupy folks described in the book as positives are the very reason they have so little presence and influence now.
With the benefit of hindsight, I do think his rah-rah opinion of the occupy movement was off base. As best I can see, it's dead. I googled it right before writing this and there wasn't much going on at all. The tea party, on the other hand, is still with us - and having an influence on politics and policy. I feel the disorganized and chaotic nature of the occupy folks described in the book as positives are the very reason they have so little presence and influence now.
sweetpeamarie's review against another edition
3.0
The Occupy chapter was preachy teeth-pulling and grandstanding; otherwise a fantastic if painful work.
meghan111's review against another edition
4.0
Devastating rhetoric and searing illustrations by Joe Sacco. This pulls together the devastation faced by different communities in America in four different compelling and specific stories about Native Americans in South Dakota, coal miners in West Virginia, African Americans in a blighted part of New Jersey, and immigrant farm workers in Florida. The connections between these stories become really clear, although the final story about the Occupy movement is maybe a little naïve. Still, incredibly moving.
crummeyforthewin's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book because it shone a light on some forgotten places in America, those who have been left behind and are suffering as a result of our economy and lust for money. Definitely worth reading.