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Monica's Reviews > Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
by
by
Monica's review
bookshelves: history, kindle_nonfiction, soc-sci-politics, pub_2010s, 5-star, audio, awards-big-renown, social-justice, popular
Sep 10, 2020
bookshelves: history, kindle_nonfiction, soc-sci-politics, pub_2010s, 5-star, audio, awards-big-renown, social-justice, popular
This book that showcases tenants and landlords/landladies and the barriers that exists on all sides. This is a must read for everyone. We (Americans) doom people to permanent poverty and a lower caste simply by not ensuring safe and adequate shelter that is affordable. In this book we see people who have the least being exploited for every penny. We see landlords barely above poverty themselves who are regulated in ways that make them have to evict people or face penalties and/or undesirable scrutiny. Buildings are not maintained, property values fall, the amount of low cost housing decreases and people are paying large rents for housing that is substandard. Long story short, America has to do better in providing shelter for the poor. Yes, there will always be greedy landlords and poor people unwilling or unable to do a minimum. But there is a gigantic gap in between of people trying and obstructed by environment, conditions, regulations, etc. There has to be a better way. No easy answers here, but can we stop pretending that poverty is the result of bad life choices and that unsafe or lack of low income housing is because property owners are monolithically greedy and evil. We are a capitalist society. As with all things, it's not either/or, there is always nuance. And despite Herculean efforts to deny it, nuance is where the vast majority of us live. There are a lot of very good reviews of this excellent, enlightening and heartbreaking book. Stop reading this one and go find those. Better yet, find the book and read it!!!
5 Stars
Listened to the audio book. This was expertly narrated by Dion Graham
5 Stars
Listened to the audio book. This was expertly narrated by Dion Graham
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Reading Progress
December 27, 2016
– Shelved
December 27, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
December 27, 2016
– Shelved as:
history
December 27, 2016
– Shelved as:
kindle_nonfiction
December 27, 2016
– Shelved as:
soc-sci-politics
April 7, 2018
– Shelved as:
pub_2010s
July 19, 2020
– Shelved as:
00-on_deck
August 25, 2020
–
Started Reading
August 25, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
September 10, 2020
– Shelved as:
5-star
September 10, 2020
–
Finished Reading
October 15, 2020
– Shelved as:
audio
July 10, 2021
– Shelved as:
awards-big-renown
June 2, 2024
– Shelved as:
social-justice
July 24, 2024
– Shelved as:
popular
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by
Carol
(new)
Aug 29, 2020 01:58PM
I'm looking forward to seeing whether you give this one a thumbs up or down, Monica. I only read so much nonfiction each year and I've been conflicted about whether to push this one up the TBR or leave it sitting where it is for awhile longer....
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Elyse wrote: "This is sooooo timely - (especially for us here in California) --don't you think? I'm worried for people --and one of my friends --in S.F. -- my age -single --barely getting by financially might ge..."Scary. " There but for the grace of God go I..."
Carol wrote: "I'm looking forward to seeing whether you give this one a thumbs up or down, Monica. I only read so much nonfiction each year and I've been conflicted about whether to push this one up the TBR or l..."Carol, I'm only 50% in and I can tell this will be up your alley. It seeks to tell both sides of the story. It's excellent so far...
Another great review. This book is simply excellent.
Great review, Monica. This one really opened my eyes about how people get trapped into a cycle of evictions, how much they suffer, and how difficult a problem it is to solve.
Very interested in reading this one, thanks for your review! Looking for it right now! Hopefully the library will have it, but the library system I borrow from has few books featuring social issues, especially African American issues.
Great review. This book is so good - how can we move forward as a society when so many don't have stable shelter?
Renee wrote: "Another great review. This book is simply excellent."Agreed!! Thank you Renee!!
Max wrote: "Great review, Monica. This one really opened my eyes about how people get trapped into a cycle of evictions, how much they suffer, and how difficult a problem it is to solve."Thank you Max!! This book and (for me) The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness showcased for me how people get trapped in a cycle of poverty and cannot escape it. It's heartbreaking and reprehensible. Things can be done but the problem is so huge that in many cases we choose not to even try.
T. Rose wrote: "Very interested in reading this one, thanks for your review! Looking for it right now! Hopefully the library will have it, but the library system I borrow from has few books featuring social issues..."This is one I'm fairly certain you won't have any trouble tracking down. I would also recommend the audio book if you can get it.
Lisa wrote: "Great review. This book is so good - how can we move forward as a society when so many don't have stable shelter?"Thank you Lisa!! And just have safe, clean stable shelter would yield so many positive outcomes. I don't understand why it isn't more urgent as a matter of public policy.
Great review, Monica. I loved this book as well. Happy Reading :)
Monica, I got a copy with the audio - - Yay!! This is one of my big concerns. Has been for a while, but, now more than ever.
Michelle wrote: "Great review, Monica. I loved this book as well. Happy Reading :)"Thank you Michelle!! Happy Reading back at cha!!
T. Rose wrote: "Monica, I got a copy with the audio - - Yay!! This is one of my big concerns. Has been for a while, but, now more than ever."Excellent!! I look forward to your thoughts!!
How did they manage all the footnotes with the audio book? I seem to remember at least ten a chapter, give or take.
carol. wrote: "How did they manage all the footnotes with the audio book? I seem to remember at least ten a chapter, give or take."I did not have the text in front of me so I wasn't aware they were footnotes, but the audio book did have lots of "side bars" explaining laws that had passed and/or court rulings, economic conditions etc. It was really well done.
Oh, that would be nice. So they just said, "sidebar" and gave the detail? The book footnote were only about 1/3 academic and the rest had a enlarge the story/background feel, so I can see where saying 'sidebar' would actually work. Kind of like a good academic speaker.
They would be in the middle of a story and then would add context to something along lines of "Because of a new law passed in 20xx, landlords are required to..." and then would continue on in the story. I vaguely recall it calling out a footnote as such. But I was consuming to the story and not necessarily paying attention to that level of detail in the actual narration.
Huh. I think I like the sound of that better than the actual book. The challenges of e-books (which I didn't read) would be the footnotes. I kind of like the sound of the audio... if only one could deal with that material for that long :(
carol. wrote: "Huh. I think I like the sound of that better than the actual book. The challenges of e-books (which I didn't read) would be the footnotes. I kind of like the sound of the audio... if only one could..."The narrator definitely matters. Dion Graham made this a very compelling listen. I can remember having emotional reactions to the some the stories. This was a very good listening experience.
Wonderful review, Monica! You make the case. I will need to make time for this one and will try to get the audiobook version. Thanks. :)
Jo wrote: "Wonderful review, Monica! You make the case. I will need to make time for this one and will try to get the audiobook version. Thanks. :)"Thank you Jo!! I hope you enjoy it!!
Glad you liked this one! This was one of my recent favorites.
Hank wrote: "Glad you liked this one! This was one of my recent favorites."Thank you, Hank,!! Agreed, this was a compelling audiobook and a must read!!
