Awards

• Winner of Michigan Notable Books 2014

Overview

After living in San Francisco for fifteen years, journalist Gordon Young found himself yearning for his Rust Belt hometown: Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors and the “star” of the Michael Moore documentary Roger & Me. Hoping to rediscover and help a place that had once boasted one of the world’s highest per capita income levels but had become one of the country's most impoverished and dangerous cities, he returned to Flint with the intention of buying a house. What he found was a place of stark contrasts and dramatic stories, where an exotic dancer could afford a lavish mansion, speculators scooped up cheap houses by the dozen on eBay, and arson was often the quickest route to neighborhood beautification. Skillfully blending personal memoir, historical inquiry, and interviews with Flint residents, Young constructs a vibrant tale of a once-thriving city still fighting—despite overwhelming odds—to rise from the ashes. He befriends a ragtag collection of urban homesteaders and die-hard locals who refuse to give up as they try to transform Flint into a smaller, greener town that offers lessons for cities all over the world. Hard-hitting, insightful, and often painfully funny, Teardown reminds us that cities are ultimately defined by people, not politics or economics.

Full Product Details

9780520270527

Table of Contents

Reviews

A journalist living in San Francisco decides to move back to decrepit Flint, Mich., where he was born and raised... It matters because: As cities like Flint go, so goes much of the nation. Perfect for: The amateur urbanist who wants to go to Flint without actually having to leave the backyard. -- Alexander Nazaryan Atlantic Wire A poignant, often funny look at an iconic Rust Belt city struggling to recover. -- Vanessa Bush Booklist Teardown is a story, readable and affecting, sad and funny, animated by human impulse and the American preoccupation with real estate values ... it is a remarkably intereting read that is likely to resonate with anyone who has ever left home. -- Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat Gazette Young has written this love poem to his arson-prone, deindustrialized hometown and its impoverished and traumatized citizenry using a snappy yet journalistically skeptical style... Even casual readers who have no experience with Rust Belt cities or real estate investment will find Teardown compelling and worth their attention. -- Jim Schulman Washington Independent Review of Books Young shines a spotlight on a broken city and the efforts of those desperate to save it, but this is also the story of a man confronting a crisis of identity and finding hope where there seemed to be none. Publishers Weekly The style of Teardown is Rolling-Stone-style journalism, relatively informal, strongly first person, loosely organized. But there is modern history, too, and wide-ranging inquiry into economics and (especially) politics. The strongest narrative interest, though, springs from Gordon's contacts with Flintites old and new, people doing what he is contemplating. -- Randall Mawer Lost Coast Review While scholars and urban planners throughout the US and Europe debate strategies for revitalising former industrial cities that are shrinking , forgotten or failing , Young reminds us that storytelling, including the kind of inconclusive ending we might find in a contemporary novel, sometimes reveals more than the most careful study can. Better yet, a good story shows us why we should care, even if it doesn't provide any solutions. -- Sherry Lee Linkon Times Higher Education One does not have to be from Flint to appreciate this book. -- Stephen High Middle West Review

A poignant, often funny look at an iconic Rust Belt city struggling to recover. --Vanessa Bush Booklist (07/01/2013)

Author Information

Gordon Young grew up in Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors, where his accomplishments included learning to parallel park the family's massive Buick Electra 225. After reaching an uneasy truce with the nuns in the local Catholic school system, he went on to study journalism at the University of Missouri and English literature at the University of Nottingham. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Utne Reader, and numerous other publications. Young has published Flint Expatriates, a blog for the long-lost residents of the Vehicle City, since 2007. He is a senior lecturer in the Communication Department at Santa Clara University and lives in San Francisco.

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