Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, is a heartbreaking book, that 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. Matthew Desmond is an American sociologist and urban ethnographer. He is currently the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and Co-Director of the Justice and Poverty Project. The author of several books, including "On the Fire line"(award winning), Racial Domination, Racial Progress, and Evicted.
All of these books have good and bad reviews. Some reviewers really liked his open candor. While others felt he was too frank and impartial.
In Evicted I had four reasons why I could not get past the tenth chapter. The first and key reason was baffling. This was a very confusing book. The
paragraphs and chapters jumped from landlords to tenants. I wish Mr. Desmond had a summary of characters to refer back to.
The second reason was the bleakness of the situations these
people were in without any help from the court system, friends,
family, or employers.
The third reason I had a hard time was the maltreatment of single parents, disabled, illiterate, and elderly. I could not continue to read
how the movers and sherriff deputies would laugh at these people's misfortunes.
The fourth and final reason was the deceitfulness of the landlords, lawyers, and the court personal. The judges, landlords, and, court personal would make sure that the renters would not show up by not giving these people sufficient notice. The landlords would then quickly move in like vultures and evict these people. So they could rent at higher prices.
I received this book for review from Blogging for Books.
