A review by shirleytupperfreeman
Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl Wudunn

Nicholas Kristof grew up riding the #6 school bus in the farm community of Yamhill, OR. He went to Harvard and became a NYT journalist but many of the kids on his bus have already died from alcohol, drugs, diabetes, obesity and reckless living. Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, posit that many government and corporate policies over the past few decades have created an untenable situation for millions of working class families. They are careful to acknowledge that some folks have made poor choices but they also write about the various 'escalators' that we as a country used to provide, and some countries still do provide, for folks trying to move up the success ladder. For instance, the GI bill which helped veterans (only white, tragically) get an education and housing after WWII. Using specific people's stories as a launching pad, they write about health care, incarceration, education, housing, jobs, etc. Kristof and WuDunn offer examples of people and programs that are trying to help and they call for many changes in our government and corporate policies. At the end, they suggest 10 things the reader/listener can do to learn more. I will confess that at first, as I was listening to the book while driving around town, I kept turning it off because it felt too depressing and because I didn't find the reader's voice helpful. But I'm glad I kept going - there is a lot of food for thought. Now I've started Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas to do some comparing and contrasting.