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A review by savvylit
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Evicted is an enlightening glimpse into a reality that may not be familiar to all readers: the absolutely devastating and all-consuming effects of being evicted in the United States. Desmond reveals the juxtaposition between the ease with which landlords can evict their residents and the lingering difficulties that their tenants will face as a result. Once someone has been evicted, they are often forced into increasingly unsafe rentals that are the only option for someone whose background check reads "evicted." Furthermore, crippling debt and shame associated with eviction tend to follow folks for years as they attempt to seek stability. It was absolutely heartbreaking to follow many of these families as they faced homelessness or unsafe housing in between evictions.
For an informative nonfiction book, Evicted was immensely readable. I couldn't help but turn each page, hoping for each tenant to find a stable home. I also found myself increasingly disgusted by both landlords and the criminal justice system for their ability to take away a basic human right (shelter) with seeming ease or even righteousness.
Another aspect of Evicted that I enjoyed was Desmond's postscript regarding how he conducted the research for this book. I had wondered how involved he'd become in the lives of the folks that he followed and I appreciated his addressing that question. I think that Desmond's explanation of ethnography was fascinating and I was also pleased to read that he had developed genuine friendships with a lot of the interviewees.
For an informative nonfiction book, Evicted was immensely readable. I couldn't help but turn each page, hoping for each tenant to find a stable home. I also found myself increasingly disgusted by both landlords and the criminal justice system for their ability to take away a basic human right (shelter) with seeming ease or even righteousness.
Another aspect of Evicted that I enjoyed was Desmond's postscript regarding how he conducted the research for this book. I had wondered how involved he'd become in the lives of the folks that he followed and I appreciated his addressing that question. I think that Desmond's explanation of ethnography was fascinating and I was also pleased to read that he had developed genuine friendships with a lot of the interviewees.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Classism