Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

In this work of non-fiction, Matthew Desmond, a Harvard sociologist, takes us to Milwaukee where we become intimately engaged in the lives of eight impoverished families. Among these, we meet Arleen- who is trying to raise her children on food stamps, Crystal – who has been in and out of the foster system since she was a young child, and Scott – who is a successful nurse-turned heroin addict who lost it all (among others). We also meet their landlords Sherrena (who owns many dilapidated inner-city units) and Tobin (the owner of a run-down trailer park).Through thorough and expansive research, Desmond walks the reader through the lives of these people — their decision making processes, the choices (and non-choices) that led them to where they are, and the laws and loopholes that work against the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.To me, Evicted was an extremely worthwhile read, for many reasons. First, I do not read a lot of non-fiction, because the writing is often too clinical to hold my interest. This book though, reads like a novel. Desmond lived with, and visited with many of these families on a daily basis for three years. We come to know them as we would a friend, and he tells their stories in a chronological, plot-like way. I wanted to know what would happen next to each of them– I felt invested in their well-being, and frustrated when I read about their lives’ numerous drawbacks.Desmond did an excellent job of writing this book from a non-biased view. I personally believe this to be an accomplishment in and of itself; since he witnessed most of the noted events first-hand, I can only imagine how difficult it was to keep his opinion free and clear of his writing. Yet, he managed it and I appreciated that. I despise when an author tells me, either implicitly or explicitly how I am supposed to feel about about an event. In doing this, an author is not only suggesting that his/her thought and opinion is the “right” opinion, but also that I’m not intelligent enough to draw my own conclusions — which is an assumption based in condescension and inaccuracy, and is wholly insulting. Desmond left his own opinion out of his reporting – he recalled these events masterfully – completely and chock full of detail, but without any implied judgement. His writing is powerful, and allows the reader to form their own opinions.Further, Desmond provides the reader with significant background information regarding the laws around food-stamps, eviction processes, and the inaccessibility of resources for some of our cities’ most impoverished residents. Because he explained these laws and processes in layman’s terms, I was able to understand why a person might make the decisions that they did. I value logic, and when I cannot understand the logic behind one’s decisions, I become frustrated and impatient. For example, one of the women spent much of her food-stamp allocation for the month on lobster tails and lemon meringue pie. For one meal. Normally, I would think, “Now see — this, this here is the problem.” The author understood that his reader would feel this way, and went on to explain just how difficult it is to drive oneself out of grinding poverty. “People lived with so many compounded limitations that it was difficult to imagine the amount of good behavior or self-control that would allow them to lift themselves out of poverty….those at the bottom had little hope of climbing out even if they pinched every penny. So they chose not to. Instead, they tried to survive in color, to season the suffering with pleasure.” This actually made sense to me. I cannot even begin to imagine feeling so low, and with the author’s careful and logical explanation, I realized that until I live it, I shouldn’t judge it.This brings me to my final point. I admittedly understand little about our nation’s housing laws and the difficulties that are faced by those who live within the throes of urban decay. I know how expensive apartments are (the Boston area has some of the highest rents and mortgages in the country), and how exhausting the housing search can be. However, even at my poorest moments, when my bank account was completely in the red, I was not without my soft resources (successful parents who’d rather not watch their child become homeless or starve, friends with the ability and willingness to help, a graduate level education and the ability to procure a job that would pay me a steady salary). In short – I can’t fathom the struggle.The people highlighted in this book do not have these soft resources — they are completely on their own. The author surely knew that most of his readers, (with the ability to spend $13.99 on his book for their reading pleasure), might not be able to comprehend the lives and struggles that these people are living — but he made me want to try. I wasn’t left with any anger over the spending or perceived wasting of tax dollars; rather, I finished the book with a confused feeling – a “in what universe does that law make sense?” type of sentiment. I’m sure this was Desmond’s hope for his book, to provide his reader with an eye-opening experience which, at least in my case, was successful.To read more of my reviews, go to my blog at [...]

Evicted is, simply, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius (to borrow from Eggers.) Desmond embeds himself into the very fabric of the modern poor, taking in and reporting on the experience of poverty from two different but similarly compelling perspectives. He weaves a frustrating tapestry that reveals what it means to be truly, unstably poor, but also provides interesting insights in the shape of in-depth stories from the perspective of the landlords involved.Every page reveals just how much effort went into telling these people's stories, and each story will make you gasp, shake your head, furrow your brow, and feel upset and helpless, while also granting you a sliver of enlightenment. Poverty isn't how it's portrayed on TV. It isn't a simple matter of being unwilling to work hard enough to pull yourself out of its grasp. Instead, it's a vicious circle, a complex, paradoxically expensive labyrinth that makes every day immeasurably harder—a systemic, societal failure that feeds back on itself over and over again, and a problem of compounding interest on simple mistakes made repeatedly, and then multiplied to devastation.This is a tale of people who don't typically have their story heard. It's an important exploration into what factors and events happen in a person's life that could cause things to get this bad. It's not a strictly apologetic piece, either: frequently those featured in the book explain that they know the mistakes they've made, and even sometimes continue to make, but that's what makes the circle so vicious.It's also a book with ideas, perspective, and context. It's crucial to know and see things from the landlord's point of view, for instance, and Evicted really delivers on this front. It's important to acknowledge that a class of people profit off of another class, ad infinitum, and that rules, processes, and systems conspire to make things even harder for the poor than they need to be. Further, it's important to acknowledge that while landlords make money, they're not strictly painted as the enemy here. Almost every one evicted in the course of the stories told admit that they effectively have it coming, and don't blame the landlord for doing what's necessary.You may have it in your head what it means to be poor, and you may have some opinions about what sort of people end up in these circumstances—what sort of people get evicted. But I guarantee you that Evicted will completely transform your way of thinking about these things moving forward. It's masterfully done, and the commitment to getting the details right and to reporting from the literal front lines of poverty should be applauded. These are stories that were difficult, backbreaking work to collect; that required a level of sacrifice and fearlessness that most wouldn't be willing to put forth. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's crushing, sobering, and extremely important that it be read.

Incredibly intense read about one of America's greatest problems

unbelievable that all that happens in the US, once the greatest country in the world.

Genuinely fantastic insight. What a system... profoundly disturbing. Makes you want to weep.

Just started reading the book. It is very insightful and interesting

This book wakes one up to the human tragedies behind the foreclosures and evictions we read about without fully connecting to the suffering and pain associated with them. With another wave imminent as a result of the economic consequences of the corona virus, the top item for relief efforts should be to keep families in their homes until they can stand on their feet again.