Evicted : poverty and profit in the American city / Matthew Desmond.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Desmond, Matthew, author.

Contributor:

Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

Go Big Read (Program)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States.

Low-income housing--United States.

Low-income housing.

Eviction--United States.

Eviction.

Poverty--United States.

Poverty.

Profit--United States.

Profit.

Cities and towns--United States.

Cities and towns.

Public housing.

Social sciences--Sociology--Urban.

Social sciences--Poverty and Homelessness.

Public Housing.

Poverty Areas.

Ill-Housed Persons.

Medical Subjects:

Public Housing.

Poverty Areas.

Ill-Housed Persons.

Genre:

Case studies.

Case studies

Physical Description:

x, 418 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Crown Publishers, [2016]

Summary:

"[The author] takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the 20 dollars a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stickup after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind. The fates of these families are in the hands of two landlords: Sherrena Tarver, a former schoolteacher turned inner-city entrepreneur, and Tobin Charney, who runs one of the worst trailer parks in Milwaukee. They loathe some of their tenants and are fond of others, but as Sherrena puts it, "Love don't pay the bills." She moves to evict Arleen and her boys a few days before Christmas. Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. But today, most poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers. In vivid, intimate prose, Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America's vast inequality-- and to people's determination and intelligence in the face of hardship. Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this masterful book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible"--Amazon.com.

Contents:

Cold city

Rent. The business of owning the city ; Making rent ; Hot water ; A beautiful collection ; Thirteenth Street ; Rat hole ; The sick ; Christmas in Room 400

Out. Order some carryout ; Hypes for hire ; The 'hood is good ; Disposable ties ; E-24 ; High tolerance ; A nuisance ; Ashes on snow

After. This is America ; Lobster on food stamps ; Little ; Nobody wants the North Side ; Bigheaded boy ; If they give momma the punishment ; The serenity club ; Can't win for losing

Home and hope

About this project.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-405) and index.

New York Times Best Sellers List.

Pulitzer Prize winner, General Nonfiction, 2017.

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner, 2017.

National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, 2016

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

Athenaeum copy: Livezey Fund bookplate.

Other Format:

Online version: Desmond, Matthew. Evicted.

ISBN:

9780553447439

0553447432

9780553447453

0553447459

OCLC:

915135748

Online:

Cover image

Additional Information at Google Books

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