This book! First, it was great! I only gave it 4/5 stars probably because of the depressing nature of the discussion the authors start with the reader. However, this is exactly what the book sets out to do and he doesn’t sugar coat things. Everything is laid out here and it is much worse than anyone thinks. There is a very large portion of our America that can’t make rent and are either provided with unsafe housing for partial rent or evicted. Then you see they have a record of missing payments and have an impossible time finding a place. If they can find a place the new landlord knows that they can take advantage of this person because they have very limited options. The vicious circle starts and never ends for these people. It is not a small group, but it is a group and a problem that is easy for many of us to ignore.
Matt does a great job bringing these problems to the forefront by interviewing many people and living in the same conditions as many of them. You can see how it was difficult for him and you feel for the people in his stories.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (22.9K reviews, 4.47 avg rating) has won more awards than you can shake a stick at:
- Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (2017)
- PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction (2017)
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Current Interest (2016)
- National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction (2016)
- Andrew Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction (2017)
- Kirkus Prize Nominee for Nonfiction (2016)
- Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Nonfiction (2016)