Poverty and Profit in the American City

Evicted

*WINNER OF THE 2017 PULITZER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION* 
 'Beautifully written, thought-provoking, and unforgettable ... If you want a good understanding of how the issues that cause poverty are intertwined, you should read this book' Bill Gates, Best Books of 2017 
 
Arleen spends nearly all her money on rent but is kicked out with her kids in Milwaukee's coldest winter for years. Doreen's home is so filthy her family call it 'the rat hole'. Lamar, a wheelchair-bound ex-soldier, tries to work his way out of debt for his boys. Scott, a nurse turned addict, lives in a gutted-out trailer. This is their world. And this is the twenty-first century: where fewer and fewer people can afford a simple roof over their head. 
 
'Essential. A compelling and damning exploration of the abuse of one of our basic human rights: shelter.' Owen Jones 
 
'If I could require the president to read one book it would be Evicted' Zadie Smith

An intimate portrait of what it's like to be powerless in the world's superpower ... Evicted shows how the smallest event can rip through poor lives, sending them spinning out of control... To British eyes, the narrative reads like a dispatch from the near-future.

For the two or three weeks I was reading the book, it formed my topic of conversation with friends, and at night, when I went to sleep, it filled my thoughts ... It makes you aware of how complicated the webs holding you up are.

A monumental and vivid study of urban poverty ... Evicted demands attention. It shines a klieg light on a dark corner of the American experience

Heartbreaking... Desmond's acute observational skills, his facility with reported dialogue and his ability to wrench chaotic stories into clear prose make Evicted a vivid, if sometimes gruelling, read... with UK house prices unaffordable, a dearth of council housing and a Government committed to austerity, Evicted serves as a warning as to what happens when a society refuses to recognise the fundamental human right to shelter

A remarkable ethnography ... [Desmond] has a novelist's eye for the telling detail and a keen ear for dialogue ... This is a significant literary achievement, as well as a feat of reporting underpinned by statistical labour

Astonishing ... Desmond has set a new standard for reporting on poverty

An extraordinary ethnographic study... Desmond takes people who are usually seen as worthless, and shows us their full humanity ...  By examining one city through the microscopic lens of housing, he shows us how the system that produces that pain and poverty was created and is maintained

Arleen spends nearly all her money on rent but is kicked out with her kids in Milwaukee's coldest winter for years. Doreen's home is so filthy her family call it 'the rat hole'. Lamar, a wheelchair-bound ex-soldier, tries to work his way out of debt for his boys. Scott, a nurse turned addict, lives in a gutted-out trailer. This is their world. And this is the twenty-first century: where fewer and fewer people can afford a simple roof over their head. From abandoned slums to shelters, eviction courts to ghettoes, Matthew Desmond spent years living with and recording the stories of those struggling to survive - yet who won't give up. A work of love, care and humanity, Evicted reminds us why, without a home, nothing else is possible.

Matthew Desmond

Urgent and accessible ... It's refreshing to read a work of social criticism that eschews the easy and often smug allure of abstraction, in favor of plainspoken practicality. Its moral force is a gut punch.

[Desmond's] arguments have the potential to push debate about wealth in America to a new level ... The brilliance of Poverty, By America lies in Desmond's account of how government and social policy act in ways commensurate with his class-war thesis. Its texture is provided by effective storytelling, which illustrates that poverty has become a way of life.

A fierce polemic on an enduring problem ... [Desmond] writes movingly about the psychological scars of poverty ... and his prose can be crisp, elegant, and elegiac.

Desmond's electrifying pen cuts through the usual evasions and exposes the 'selfish,' 'dishonest' and 'sinful' pretence that poverty is a problem that America cannot afford to fix, rather than one it chooses not to.

Short, smart, and thrilling. The thrill comes from the sheer boldness of Desmond's argument and his carefully modulated but very real tone of outrage that underlies his words.

[T]hrough in-depth research and original reporting, the acclaimed sociologist offers solutions that would help spread America's wealth and make everyone more prosperous.

Matthew Desmond writes with honesty, clarity and even occasional poetry about a scourge that should shame us all. Poverty, by America contains impeccable expert evidence but also the stories of human beings. It offers hope to all of us who still look to the USA for progressive imagination in our so unequal world.

Reading Poverty, by America, I felt like Matthew Desmond was sitting at my kitchen table, explaining the complexities of poverty in a way I could completely understand. This book is essential and instructive, hopeful and enraging.

Poverty, By America is a book that appeals to both the heart and the intellect. Desmond deftly combines intimate portrayals of poverty with a clarion call for systemic action. He is utterly convincing: we must all become poverty abolitionists.

Emily Kenway, author of The Truth About Modern Slavery

A powerful polemic, one that has expanded and deepened my understanding of American poverty. Desmond approaches the subject with a refreshing candidness and directs his ire toward all the right places.

The United States is the richest country on earth, yet has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. One in seven Americans live below the poverty line, a line which hasn't shifted over the last fifty years, despite the efforts of successive governments. Why is there so much scarcity in this land of dollars? 
 
In Poverty, by America, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond examines American poverty today and the stories we tell ourselves about it. Spanning social isolation, mass incarceration, the housing crisis, domestic violence, crack and opioid epidemics, welfare cuts and more, Desmond argues that poverty does not result from a lack of resources or good policy ideas. We already know how to eliminate it. The hard part is getting more of us to care. 
 
To do so, we need a new story. As things stand, liberals explain poverty through insurmountable structural issues, whereas conservatives highlight personal failings and poor life choices. Both abdicate responsibility, and ignore the reality that the advantages of the rich only come at the expense of the poor. It is time better-paid citizens put themselves back in the narrative, recognizing that the depth and expanse of poverty in any nation reflects our failure to look out for one another. Poverty must ultimately be met by community: all this suffering and want is our doing, and we can undo it.

Matthew Desmond

Praise for Poverty, by America

Urgent and accessible ... It's refreshing to read a work of social criticism that eschews the easy and often smug allure of abstraction, in favor of plainspoken practicality. Its moral force is a gut punch ...

[Desmond's] arguments have the potential to push debate about wealth in America to a new level ... The brilliance of Poverty, By America lies in Desmond's account of how government and social policy act in wa ...

A fierce polemic on an enduring problem ... [Desmond] writes movingly about the psychological scars of poverty ... and his prose can be crisp, elegant, and elegiac.

Urgent and accessible ... It's refreshing to read a work of social criticism that eschews the easy and often smug allure of abstraction, in favor of plainspoken practicality. Its moral force is a gut punch ...

[Desmond's] arguments have the potential to push debate about wealth in America to a new level ... The brilliance of Poverty, By America lies in Desmond's account of how government and social policy act in wa ...

A fierce polemic on an enduring problem ... [Desmond] writes movingly about the psychological scars of poverty ... and his prose can be crisp, elegant, and elegiac.

Urgent and accessible ... It's refreshing to read a work of social criticism that eschews the easy and often smug allure of abstraction, in favor of plainspoken practicality. Its moral force is a gut punch ...

[Desmond's] arguments have the potential to push debate about wealth in America to a new level ... The brilliance of Poverty, By America lies in Desmond's account of how government and social policy act in wa ...

A fierce polemic on an enduring problem ... [Desmond] writes movingly about the psychological scars of poverty ... and his prose can be crisp, elegant, and elegiac.

Books by Matthew Desmond

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