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.
In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Matthew Desmond 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 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.
About the author
Matthew Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University
.
After receiving his Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin
at Madison, he joined the Harvard Society of Fellows as a Junior Fellow.
Before joining Princeton, he was formerly the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University
.
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.
In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Matthew Desmond 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 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.
About the author
Matthew Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University
.
After receiving his Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin
at Madison, he joined the Harvard Society of Fellows as a Junior Fellow.
Before joining Princeton, he was formerly the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University
.