Overview

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a case about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow. Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.

Full Product Details

9798217068555

Table of Contents

Reviews

"[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.-- ""Time"" A compact jeremiad on the persistence of extreme want in a nation of extraordinary wealth . . . [Desmond's] purpose here is to draw attention to what's plain in front of us--damn the etiquette, and damn the grand abstractions.-- ""The New York Times Book Review"" A data-driven manifesto that turns a critical eye on those who inflict and perpetuate unlivable conditions on others.-- ""The Boston Globe"" 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.-- ""The Economist "" 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.-- ""Roxane Gay"" A searing, essential book . . .[that] solidifies Desmond's status as a remarkable chronicler of our times.-- ""Vulture"" Desmond's book makes an urgent and unignorable appeal to our national conscience, one that has been quietly eroded over decades of increasing personal consumption and untiring corporate greed.-- ""Claire Messud, Harper's Magazine"" 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.-- ""Prospect"" Desmond's new book is 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.-- ""Rolling Stone"" Passionate and empathetic.-- ""Salon"" Provocative and compelling . . . [Desmond] packs in a sweeping array of examples and numbers to support his thesis and . . . the accumulation has the effect of shifting one's brain ever so slightly to change the entire frame of reference.-- ""NPR"" This book is essential and instructive, hopeful and enraging.-- ""Ann Patchett"" 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.-- ""The New Yorker"" [Poverty, by America is] a book that could alter the way you see the world. . . . It reads almost like a passionate speech, urging us to dig deeper, to forget what we think we know as we try to understand the inequities upon which America was built. . . . A surprisingly hopeful work.-- ""Minneapolis Star Tribune"" Poverty, by America is a searing moral indictment of how and why the United States tolerates such high levels of poverty and of inequality . . . [and] a hands-on call to action.-- ""The Nation"" ""[Desmond] packs in a sweeping array of examples and numbers to support his thesis...[which] has the effect of shifting one's brain ever so slightly to change the entire frame of reference."" -- ""NPR"" ""A data-driven manifesto that turns a critical eye on those who inflict and perpetuate unlivable conditions on others."" -- ""Boston Globe"" ""Delivers a radical vision: a book that urges us to abandon old ways of thinking and dream a new path forward."" -- ""Esquire"" ""Dion Graham is a master of nonfiction narration. He knows exactly when to pause, sets off quotations flawlessly, and brings exquisite emotion to the text...Graham performs with energy and intensity, matching Desmond's outrage. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award."" -- ""AudioFile"" ""Eschews the easy and often smug allure of abstraction, in favor of plainspoken practicality. Its moral force is a gut punch."" -- ""New Yorker"" ""With a disarming, conversational tone, Graham guides us through a harrowing topic while also bringing a sense of urgency and reflection, amplifying Desmond's empathy and curiosity in such a way that invites listeners to lean in and pay attention."" -- ""BookPage (starred audio review)"" [Desmond's] arguments have the potential to push debate about wealth in America to a new level. . . . The brilliance of Poverty, By America . . . is provided by effective storytelling, which illustrates that poverty has become a way of life.-- ""The Guardian"" The passion, eloquence, and lively storytelling that made Evicted a Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller are back in force as Desmond continues to speak on behalf of America's most hard-pressed. Desmond is our national conscience.-- ""Oprah Daily"""

[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.-- ""Time"" A compact jeremiad on the persistence of extreme want in a nation of extraordinary wealth . . . [Desmond's] purpose here is to draw attention to what's plain in front of us--damn the etiquette, and damn the grand abstractions.-- ""The New York Times Book Review"" A data-driven manifesto that turns a critical eye on those who inflict and perpetuate unlivable conditions on others.-- ""The Boston Globe"" 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.-- ""The Economist "" 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.-- ""Roxane Gay"" A searing, essential book . . .[that] solidifies Desmond's status as a remarkable chronicler of our times.-- ""Vulture"" Desmond's book makes an urgent and unignorable appeal to our national conscience, one that has been quietly eroded over decades of increasing personal consumption and untiring corporate greed.-- ""Claire Messud, Harper's Magazine"" 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.-- ""Prospect"" Desmond's new book is 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.-- ""Rolling Stone"" Passionate and empathetic.-- ""Salon"" Provocative and compelling . . . [Desmond] packs in a sweeping array of examples and numbers to support his thesis and . . . the accumulation has the effect of shifting one's brain ever so slightly to change the entire frame of reference.-- ""NPR"" This book is essential and instructive, hopeful and enraging.-- ""Ann Patchett"" 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.-- ""The New Yorker"" [Poverty, by America is] a book that could alter the way you see the world. . . . It reads almost like a passionate speech, urging us to dig deeper, to forget what we think we know as we try to understand the inequities upon which America was built. . . . A surprisingly hopeful work.-- ""Minneapolis Star Tribune"" Poverty, by America is a searing moral indictment of how and why the United States tolerates such high levels of poverty and of inequality . . . [and] a hands-on call to action.-- ""The Nation"" ""[Desmond] packs in a sweeping array of examples and numbers to support his thesis...[which] has the effect of shifting one's brain ever so slightly to change the entire frame of reference."" -- ""NPR"" ""A data-driven manifesto that turns a critical eye on those who inflict and perpetuate unlivable conditions on others."" -- ""Boston Globe"" ""Delivers a radical vision: a book that urges us to abandon old ways of thinking and dream a new path forward."" -- ""Esquire"" ""Dion Graham is a master of nonfiction narration. He knows exactly when to pause, sets off quotations flawlessly, and brings exquisite emotion to the text...Graham performs with energy and intensity, matching Desmond's outrage. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award."" -- ""AudioFile"" ""Eschews the easy and often smug allure of abstraction, in favor of plainspoken practicality. Its moral force is a gut punch."" -- ""New Yorker"" ""With a disarming, conversational tone, Graham guides us through a harrowing topic while also bringing a sense of urgency and reflection, amplifying Desmond's empathy and curiosity in such a way that invites listeners to lean in and pay attention."" -- ""BookPage (starred audio review)"" [Desmond's] arguments have the potential to push debate about wealth in America to a new level. . . . The brilliance of Poverty, By America . . . is provided by effective storytelling, which illustrates that poverty has become a way of life.-- ""The Guardian"" The passion, eloquence, and lively storytelling that made Evicted a Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller are back in force as Desmond continues to speak on behalf of America's most hard-pressed. Desmond is our national conscience.-- ""Oprah Daily""

Author Information

Matthew Desmond is the author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, which won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, among others. Politico has named him one of the 50 people across the United States who are most influencing the national debate. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, he is also a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. He is the Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University and the founding director of the Eviction Lab. Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a ""Golden Voice"" by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available