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Disposable: America's Contempt for the Underclass
In a compelling blend of personal narrative and in-depth reporting, New York magazine senior writer Sarah Jones exposes the harsh reality of America’s racial and income inequality and the devastating impact of the pandemic on our nation’s most vulnerable people.
In the tradition of Matthew Desmond’s Evicted and Andrea Elliot’s Invisible Child, Disposable is a poignant exploration of America’s underclass, left vulnerable by systemic racism and capitalism. Here, Sarah Jones delves into the lives of the essential workers, seniors, and people with disabilities who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19—not due to their age or profession, but because of the systemic inequality and poverty that left them exposed.
The pandemic served as a stark revelation of the true state of America, a country where the dream of prosperity is a distant mirage for millions. Jones argues that the pandemic didn’t create these dynamics, but rather revealed the existing social mobility issues and wealth gap that have long plagued the nation. Behind the staggering death toll are stories of lives lost, injustices suffered, and institutions that failed to protect their people.
Jones brings these stories to the forefront, transforming the abstract concept of the pandemic into a deeply personal and political phenomenon. She argues that America has abandoned a sacrificial underclass of millions but insists that another future is possible. By addressing the pervasive issues of racial justice and public policy, Jones calls for a future where no one is seen as disposable again.
In the tradition of Matthew Desmond’s Evicted and Andrea Elliot’s Invisible Child, Disposable is a poignant exploration of America’s underclass, left vulnerable by systemic racism and capitalism. Here, Sarah Jones delves into the lives of the essential workers, seniors, and people with disabilities who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19—not due to their age or profession, but because of the systemic inequality and poverty that left them exposed.
The pandemic served as a stark revelation of the true state of America, a country where the dream of prosperity is a distant mirage for millions. Jones argues that the pandemic didn’t create these dynamics, but rather revealed the existing social mobility issues and wealth gap that have long plagued the nation. Behind the staggering death toll are stories of lives lost, injustices suffered, and institutions that failed to protect their people.
Jones brings these stories to the forefront, transforming the abstract concept of the pandemic into a deeply personal and political phenomenon. She argues that America has abandoned a sacrificial underclass of millions but insists that another future is possible. By addressing the pervasive issues of racial justice and public policy, Jones calls for a future where no one is seen as disposable again.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 18, 2025
61 people are currently reading
4497 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
February 5, 2025
This was very straightforward and basic around covid and what happened to the most vulnerable Americans in the face of the pandemic. Pretty repetitive and likely could’ve been an essay. I liked the reporting but hated when the author incorporated her own story into it. It was unnecessary.
March 26, 2025
RATING: 3.75/5 (rounded up) Disposable was a book I had my eye on for a while. Discussions around poverty, homelessness, and the systemic inequalities that harm the middle and lower working class are crucial, and this book engages with those topics—though only to a certain extent. I would still recommend it because the author weaves personal experiences with broader societal critiques in a way that pushes the narrative forward. Additionally, the book presents important information that could inspire readers to explore these issues further.
However, because the book primarily focuses on the impact of COVID—particularly how the pandemic exacerbated disparities in healthcare and economic security—I found that some points became repetitive. The messaging often felt like it was cycling through the same arguments rather than expanding upon them. While the author's firsthand connection to the topic makes the discussion compelling, I wished for a broader scope that addressed poverty both historically and in the present day, outside the pandemic's immediate effects. A deeper dive into the policies and systemic failures that have shaped poverty in America—such as the criminalization of homelessness and the long-term neglect of the working class—would have made the book even stronger.
That said, I do appreciate the book’s title and its engagement with critical issues like eugenics and the ways in which marginalized communities, particularly disabled individuals, are disproportionately targeted by harmful policies. While the book does acknowledge the historical underpinnings of these problems, its primary focus remains on the pandemic. If the author had expanded upon some of these points, tying them more explicitly to historical and ongoing systemic failures, this could have easily been a five-star read for me. As it stands, I’m landing at a 3.75…borderline 4/5.
Thank you Avid Reader Press for a copy of this read!
However, because the book primarily focuses on the impact of COVID—particularly how the pandemic exacerbated disparities in healthcare and economic security—I found that some points became repetitive. The messaging often felt like it was cycling through the same arguments rather than expanding upon them. While the author's firsthand connection to the topic makes the discussion compelling, I wished for a broader scope that addressed poverty both historically and in the present day, outside the pandemic's immediate effects. A deeper dive into the policies and systemic failures that have shaped poverty in America—such as the criminalization of homelessness and the long-term neglect of the working class—would have made the book even stronger.
That said, I do appreciate the book’s title and its engagement with critical issues like eugenics and the ways in which marginalized communities, particularly disabled individuals, are disproportionately targeted by harmful policies. While the book does acknowledge the historical underpinnings of these problems, its primary focus remains on the pandemic. If the author had expanded upon some of these points, tying them more explicitly to historical and ongoing systemic failures, this could have easily been a five-star read for me. As it stands, I’m landing at a 3.75…borderline 4/5.
Thank you Avid Reader Press for a copy of this read!
March 3, 2025
This is the book that needed to be written about the pandemic. It is a call to remember the individuals and communities most impacted by covid, and to remember how our history got us here - and in remembering, to choose a better path forward.
abandoned
May 20, 2025I'm sure this is a worthy book, but having just finished the brilliant and devastating There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, it pales in comparison. Goldstone's book is the strongest, most devastating imaginable indictment of the systemic immiseration of the working poor since Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. I'd pick up one of those first.
April 26, 2025
This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The message was solid (America’s behavior during the pandemic has exposed its behavior towards its most vulnerable) but it was a bit too libed out for me, focusing too much on “Trump bad” and not enough on material analysis or questioning the systems as wholes.
February 28, 2025
Its narrow focus was exhausted by chapter 3. I don’t know that the remaining chapters were needed. This could have been good if Jones widened the lens and incorporated other ways (economically, politically, socially) that this country’s underclass is being increasingly marginalized.
November 16, 2024
It was a good read.
March 18, 2025
If I had a favorite genre, I think this would be how it would be best described and how the NYT chose to summarize this book:
“A barnburner of a book.” —The New York Times Book Review
We need so many more of them, may we continue to support such work wildly.
If we only understood how many lives could have been saved if the pandemic was properly funded and managed. I appreciated this book fully exposing the intersections of many. It speaks to how many lives we can transform and save if we chose to radically educate and make public health and public education our highest priority for all. A message we can’t share enough. This book brings to life the darkest crevasses of the problems we face and can fix, together, if we dared to acknowledge they exist and eliminate them wholly with the right leadership. This is a continuation of the work so many in the field choose to speak of, when it’s not the popular thing to do. This is a book that should be shared and gifted with those you may think will make an impact if they educate themselves about it. We know what happened in New York, happened across the country.
May the lives presented here and lost continue to be used and added to in case studies for us to understand how we can get it right going forward, by understanding how we got it wrong for them. They will never be disposable in my world. As painful as it is to process the knowing, I’m grateful to continue to hear their stories.
“A barnburner of a book.” —The New York Times Book Review
We need so many more of them, may we continue to support such work wildly.
If we only understood how many lives could have been saved if the pandemic was properly funded and managed. I appreciated this book fully exposing the intersections of many. It speaks to how many lives we can transform and save if we chose to radically educate and make public health and public education our highest priority for all. A message we can’t share enough. This book brings to life the darkest crevasses of the problems we face and can fix, together, if we dared to acknowledge they exist and eliminate them wholly with the right leadership. This is a continuation of the work so many in the field choose to speak of, when it’s not the popular thing to do. This is a book that should be shared and gifted with those you may think will make an impact if they educate themselves about it. We know what happened in New York, happened across the country.
May the lives presented here and lost continue to be used and added to in case studies for us to understand how we can get it right going forward, by understanding how we got it wrong for them. They will never be disposable in my world. As painful as it is to process the knowing, I’m grateful to continue to hear their stories.
Read
November 27, 2025Well of course I can get behind anything written about my kind of rumpled people but this ain’t great. Says the right stuff but from a vantage point I found…not false. Just not fully itself.
Meaning: if she came to her senses and realized how bad things were for people during COVID and in direct response to her own experience and her grandfather’s death, then it’s ok to say so. Or if she’s a battle hardened hillbilly who can tell it like it is in rebuke to the vice prez, you can do that too.
Instead the tone and POV of this book felt, to me, like another ardent liberal pointer-outer with limited ideas for what to do next. There were a lot of criticisms of the way things are, and occasionally a nod to the UK’s National Health Service, or frustration about giving up on masks. But there wasn’t much of anything like a vision for how things could be. And there was a little too much satisfaction in pointing out the meanest meanies, Trump and his most assailable followers.
My next door neighbor used to complain that her son didn’t visit her. Then he went down some internet spirals and wouldn’t get vaccinated and so on so I think she was a little relieved, or it made the story more balanced, that he didn’t come over. A couple of months ago he killed himself. Where would he fit in, in a book like this?
And like a lot of mainstream shit is fucked books, I wonder: who is the winnowing class of readers who both do not already know all of this from lived experience AND give a damn? Haha. Everybody just white knuckling through their lives already knows the game is rigged, who has a primary care doctor? not anyone I know, etc etc.
I need a new vision - a new myth, a new story, a new fiction, a new worldview - that actually makes sense such that injustice stands out, is distinctive. A worldview with actual fairness in it.
So if anything I guess this very sincere and mediocre book was a reminder that at some point, I may have to write the book I’m waiting for instead.
Meaning: if she came to her senses and realized how bad things were for people during COVID and in direct response to her own experience and her grandfather’s death, then it’s ok to say so. Or if she’s a battle hardened hillbilly who can tell it like it is in rebuke to the vice prez, you can do that too.
Instead the tone and POV of this book felt, to me, like another ardent liberal pointer-outer with limited ideas for what to do next. There were a lot of criticisms of the way things are, and occasionally a nod to the UK’s National Health Service, or frustration about giving up on masks. But there wasn’t much of anything like a vision for how things could be. And there was a little too much satisfaction in pointing out the meanest meanies, Trump and his most assailable followers.
My next door neighbor used to complain that her son didn’t visit her. Then he went down some internet spirals and wouldn’t get vaccinated and so on so I think she was a little relieved, or it made the story more balanced, that he didn’t come over. A couple of months ago he killed himself. Where would he fit in, in a book like this?
And like a lot of mainstream shit is fucked books, I wonder: who is the winnowing class of readers who both do not already know all of this from lived experience AND give a damn? Haha. Everybody just white knuckling through their lives already knows the game is rigged, who has a primary care doctor? not anyone I know, etc etc.
I need a new vision - a new myth, a new story, a new fiction, a new worldview - that actually makes sense such that injustice stands out, is distinctive. A worldview with actual fairness in it.
So if anything I guess this very sincere and mediocre book was a reminder that at some point, I may have to write the book I’m waiting for instead.
March 19, 2025
I figured that the five-year anniversary of the on-set of the covid pandemic would bring our first wave of books analyzing the response. I didn't realize from the title of this one that it would fall into this category, but I thought it was a really unique approach to reflecting on the pandemic and using COVID as a case study for other national failings.
Sarah Jones' "disposable" examines how covid ravaged our most vulnerable communities—from the disabled, to the homeless, to the incarcerated, to the elderly and poor. In doing so, she highlights how long-standing, systemic failings exacerbated the crisis, and considers how a more robust social safety net could have limited its impact.
definitely a disheartening read, as many of her proposed solutions feel like they're getting further away by the day. but very good.
Sarah Jones' "disposable" examines how covid ravaged our most vulnerable communities—from the disabled, to the homeless, to the incarcerated, to the elderly and poor. In doing so, she highlights how long-standing, systemic failings exacerbated the crisis, and considers how a more robust social safety net could have limited its impact.
definitely a disheartening read, as many of her proposed solutions feel like they're getting further away by the day. but very good.
September 20, 2025
I’m a tremendous fan of Sarah’s, and I love her magazine writing. But I only liked this book. Some quotes run way too long and feel like padding; some paragraphs seem to wind without end. Some points are smart but made in odd places. Structurally, it wasn’t great.
Good thesis, though, and thank god we have people writing books like this.
Good thesis, though, and thank god we have people writing books like this.
October 16, 2025
This is a nonfiction book about the lower class people in America during the COVID pandemic. The author pulls no punches in showing the problems of health insurance in America, where the poor simply cannot afford to get sick. She also shows how government policies affect the poor the most, the people who have to go to work in schools and hospitals and Amazon warehouses. She writes about real people she has met, immigrants, or people of color, who work some of the lowest paid jobs but who have no health insurance. I liked this book. This book was written in the summer of 2024, so before Trump was re-elected. I think it would be interesting if this author revisited some of these issues and ideas under the new Trump administration. I am giving this book three stars.
April 11, 2025
This book was absolutely riveting. I could not put it down. Using COVID as her framework, she explores how the pandemic just put into view, the struggles of those not of the 1%. Must read.
April 14, 2025
I blame the editor and publisher for this 1-star rating. This book is a critique of the US response to COVID. But somewhere along the way someone decided they couldn't market a COVID book several years after the worst of the pandemic and allowed a title and jacket promo material to paint this book as a wider critique of America. It ends up being intensely annoying to have specific COVID response failures leap into "ergo America hates the disposable" generalities.
I'm sorry Sarah, but even as an ardent progressive, you lose me with your cloyingly moralizing when you start a paragraph with "School closures did cause academic setbacks, and they may not be an advisable measure when the next pandemic hits, depending on how the virus behaves" and end it with "To care for the collective is to risk accusations of Marxism or at least a certain foolishness. Yet this is the only way to care for the living and to honor the dead". Policy choice are more complex than that. Did policy makers make the right choice as they attempted to care for the collective? It's up for debate. But you don't spare even a single thought regarding the critique that school closures actually show inordinate disrespect for low income families who are less prepared to find alternative childcare options??? You want to leap right to broad statements of how "America hates the disposable"? So America is showing contempt for the dead by not being in agreement on the wisdom of school closures and by not yet having passed legislation for a COVID Memorial Day? You lose me.
Many observers have legitimate fears about what the anti-vaccination movement means for the future of public health. There is a robust critique of the anti-vax and anti-mask movement. But nothing new is learned, and not a single mind is changed, when the author lays out some anti-restriction statements and then writes "As COVID spread, conservatives weren't merely disruptive; they were trying to break society apart." p.144 There wasn't some grand master plan to destroy society Sarah! The author annoyingly sees every policy failure as "conservatives and the rich hate the disposable and are fine with them dying". The simplicity is so maddening because there ARE massive structural problems within US capitalism that is harmful to so many. But they cry out for a more detailed examination and explanation than offered here.
If you read EVICTED by Matthew Desmond you know what a powerful Progressive critique can look like. (If you haven't read it, make it the next book you read!). It will educate you on the complexities of a policy problem that American capitalism blindly ignores or exacerbates. This book attempted to be similar, and instead disappointedly feel into simplistic arguments. "Here's an anecdote of someone dying from COVID - ergo AMERICA HATES THE DISPOSABLE." It just didn't work for me. at all
I'm sorry Sarah, but even as an ardent progressive, you lose me with your cloyingly moralizing when you start a paragraph with "School closures did cause academic setbacks, and they may not be an advisable measure when the next pandemic hits, depending on how the virus behaves" and end it with "To care for the collective is to risk accusations of Marxism or at least a certain foolishness. Yet this is the only way to care for the living and to honor the dead". Policy choice are more complex than that. Did policy makers make the right choice as they attempted to care for the collective? It's up for debate. But you don't spare even a single thought regarding the critique that school closures actually show inordinate disrespect for low income families who are less prepared to find alternative childcare options??? You want to leap right to broad statements of how "America hates the disposable"? So America is showing contempt for the dead by not being in agreement on the wisdom of school closures and by not yet having passed legislation for a COVID Memorial Day? You lose me.
Many observers have legitimate fears about what the anti-vaccination movement means for the future of public health. There is a robust critique of the anti-vax and anti-mask movement. But nothing new is learned, and not a single mind is changed, when the author lays out some anti-restriction statements and then writes "As COVID spread, conservatives weren't merely disruptive; they were trying to break society apart." p.144 There wasn't some grand master plan to destroy society Sarah! The author annoyingly sees every policy failure as "conservatives and the rich hate the disposable and are fine with them dying". The simplicity is so maddening because there ARE massive structural problems within US capitalism that is harmful to so many. But they cry out for a more detailed examination and explanation than offered here.
If you read EVICTED by Matthew Desmond you know what a powerful Progressive critique can look like. (If you haven't read it, make it the next book you read!). It will educate you on the complexities of a policy problem that American capitalism blindly ignores or exacerbates. This book attempted to be similar, and instead disappointedly feel into simplistic arguments. "Here's an anecdote of someone dying from COVID - ergo AMERICA HATES THE DISPOSABLE." It just didn't work for me. at all
February 18, 2025
When a person has lived long enough their true colors will inevitably be discovered. Observers will see, yes, they've 'manned up' and the 'good' can be seen. On the other hand, very much the opposite, where the 'bad' and 'ugly' show up, big as life.
Such is the case as seen in this book, Disposable. The many shortcomings and injustices within the American society and system pre-existed and fomented, but it was COVID that showed those true colors, above ground.
The 'disposable' people, Sarah Jones, the book's author explains, were located at the lower echelons of wealth and position. These were/are the ones residing in very poor conditions, in nursing homes, if they were lucky enough to afford it, homeless shelters, and prisons; or who worked at such places as courier services' warehouses for online shopping, for instance. The treatment these people suffered especially during covid has been detailed in this, shall we call it, 'accounting' book.
I believe the serious-minded reader will take their time to thoughtfully read through this book. The author, I feel, is constructively sharing a deep and somber message, yet one that has a sharp tone to hopefully capture someones' attention.
The inequalities of social injustice and desparities abounded between rich and poor, black and white America. No doubt these issues happen wherever human beings live but Jones' examples stem from real people's real deep-seated experiences of 'Covid victims' that have come to her attention and especially brought blatantly to the surface.
In my opinion everyone should read this 'message' especially policy makers, whether conservative or democrat. The message that social justice needs to be implimented and upheld is the caring attitude and action, I get from reading this book. Do check it out.
I give this book my 5-Star rating.
~Eunice C., Blogger/Reviewer~
November 2024
Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.
Such is the case as seen in this book, Disposable. The many shortcomings and injustices within the American society and system pre-existed and fomented, but it was COVID that showed those true colors, above ground.
The 'disposable' people, Sarah Jones, the book's author explains, were located at the lower echelons of wealth and position. These were/are the ones residing in very poor conditions, in nursing homes, if they were lucky enough to afford it, homeless shelters, and prisons; or who worked at such places as courier services' warehouses for online shopping, for instance. The treatment these people suffered especially during covid has been detailed in this, shall we call it, 'accounting' book.
I believe the serious-minded reader will take their time to thoughtfully read through this book. The author, I feel, is constructively sharing a deep and somber message, yet one that has a sharp tone to hopefully capture someones' attention.
The inequalities of social injustice and desparities abounded between rich and poor, black and white America. No doubt these issues happen wherever human beings live but Jones' examples stem from real people's real deep-seated experiences of 'Covid victims' that have come to her attention and especially brought blatantly to the surface.
In my opinion everyone should read this 'message' especially policy makers, whether conservative or democrat. The message that social justice needs to be implimented and upheld is the caring attitude and action, I get from reading this book. Do check it out.
I give this book my 5-Star rating.
~Eunice C., Blogger/Reviewer~
November 2024
Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.
March 20, 2025
I was thrilled to receive this finished copy of 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑷𝑶𝑺𝑨𝑩𝑳𝑬 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂'𝒔 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 from @avidreaderpress and devoured every word.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I have some special sensitivities to this topic of class in America, as many do. I am extremely interested in current class systems and this book is a fantastic dive into specially how the Covid 19 pandemic laid bare our inherent divisions and political factions have worked hard to entrench them.
This may be a difficult topic for many to enter, as the effects from the pandemic are still very much in the forefront. I understand and so does Ms. Jones as she adeptly and compassionately shares her own stories of family losses within the systems that prioritize some over others. She examines where and why these priorities occur while encouraging a path forward, not in political divides (since no party seems to be exempt in ignoring vast swaths of people), but in empathy and care for our neighbors.
The past five years has revealed a level of inhumanity I did not expect again in my lifetime, much less ever. Again, this is not only one particular group, though that group seems to be rushing to take the prize much to my horror. This is a pervasive undertone that Jones exposes that has been running under our institutions and policies since its inception in various ways.
I hope that we come to value the disabled, the elderly, those in poverty, low-wage earners, those who look different than ourselves, those who think differently than ourselves as human first. The climate of disdain for others hurts everyone.
I did add the #gifted @simon.audio to this read which made it even more accessible for the initial intake of information. Sarah Mollo-Christiansen narrated and portrayed the empathetic tone this book conveyed. I will be glad for the physical copy to keep and make notes.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I have some special sensitivities to this topic of class in America, as many do. I am extremely interested in current class systems and this book is a fantastic dive into specially how the Covid 19 pandemic laid bare our inherent divisions and political factions have worked hard to entrench them.
This may be a difficult topic for many to enter, as the effects from the pandemic are still very much in the forefront. I understand and so does Ms. Jones as she adeptly and compassionately shares her own stories of family losses within the systems that prioritize some over others. She examines where and why these priorities occur while encouraging a path forward, not in political divides (since no party seems to be exempt in ignoring vast swaths of people), but in empathy and care for our neighbors.
The past five years has revealed a level of inhumanity I did not expect again in my lifetime, much less ever. Again, this is not only one particular group, though that group seems to be rushing to take the prize much to my horror. This is a pervasive undertone that Jones exposes that has been running under our institutions and policies since its inception in various ways.
I hope that we come to value the disabled, the elderly, those in poverty, low-wage earners, those who look different than ourselves, those who think differently than ourselves as human first. The climate of disdain for others hurts everyone.
I did add the #gifted @simon.audio to this read which made it even more accessible for the initial intake of information. Sarah Mollo-Christiansen narrated and portrayed the empathetic tone this book conveyed. I will be glad for the physical copy to keep and make notes.
June 1, 2025
Nothing new here, but, when you think of it’s wealth, the mind always spins when you read about poverty in America.
What did shock me a bit was the part about disabled people.
The great Christians who believe in life so much, hopefully then they voted for Trump out of ignorants, not knowing he loves eugenics? Apparently he also told his nephew that his disabled son would be better off dead?
Do the Christians who loved serving in USAID regret their votes and feel remorse?
I don’t necessarily blame the average Evangelical Christian, many are amazing people.
I blame the leaders and politicians who have basically sold their souls to some sort of wolf, but they knew it.
And with every review of a political book, I always come back to the same question.
He won the popular vote, how could most Americans make such a mistake?
And then I remember what lecturer said about hitler.
He would lie at the right time to anyone and tell them exactly what they wanted to hear.
I bet, if they didn’t know who he was, with his tongue, the devil himself would easily be able to manipulate many (not all) American Evangelical Christian leaders and people into doing his work.
A worthwhile book, extremely interesting, but it will depress you.
What did shock me a bit was the part about disabled people.
The great Christians who believe in life so much, hopefully then they voted for Trump out of ignorants, not knowing he loves eugenics? Apparently he also told his nephew that his disabled son would be better off dead?
Do the Christians who loved serving in USAID regret their votes and feel remorse?
I don’t necessarily blame the average Evangelical Christian, many are amazing people.
I blame the leaders and politicians who have basically sold their souls to some sort of wolf, but they knew it.
And with every review of a political book, I always come back to the same question.
He won the popular vote, how could most Americans make such a mistake?
And then I remember what lecturer said about hitler.
He would lie at the right time to anyone and tell them exactly what they wanted to hear.
I bet, if they didn’t know who he was, with his tongue, the devil himself would easily be able to manipulate many (not all) American Evangelical Christian leaders and people into doing his work.
A worthwhile book, extremely interesting, but it will depress you.
February 26, 2025
Sarah Jones, senior writer for New York Magazine, shares personal narrative along with in-depth reporting to expose the harsh reality of America's racial and income inequality and the devastating impact of the pandemic on our nation's most vulnerable.
The deaths, injustices, and collective trauma we endured in the throes of Covid-19 in 2020 America were innumerable and varied. Jones illustrates the power and wealth disparities by sharing several instances in which the government failed its people and stood on the backs of the "least" of us, as human sacrifices in the name of the economy.
With the emergent nature of the pandemic in the rear view mirror, many of these societal gaps are getting more and more prevalent by the day and especially in this administration.
This book serves as a reminder of the ways politics play roles in our lives and could mean life or death, flounder or flourish for any one of us, and where we can go from here.
🎧 Narrated by Sarah Jones herself, the listening experience was familiar, like sitting down with a good friend - her convictions were apparent in her reading.
Thanks to Avid Reader Press for my gifted copy, and Simon Audio/LibroFM for the ALC!
The deaths, injustices, and collective trauma we endured in the throes of Covid-19 in 2020 America were innumerable and varied. Jones illustrates the power and wealth disparities by sharing several instances in which the government failed its people and stood on the backs of the "least" of us, as human sacrifices in the name of the economy.
With the emergent nature of the pandemic in the rear view mirror, many of these societal gaps are getting more and more prevalent by the day and especially in this administration.
This book serves as a reminder of the ways politics play roles in our lives and could mean life or death, flounder or flourish for any one of us, and where we can go from here.
🎧 Narrated by Sarah Jones herself, the listening experience was familiar, like sitting down with a good friend - her convictions were apparent in her reading.
Thanks to Avid Reader Press for my gifted copy, and Simon Audio/LibroFM for the ALC!
March 24, 2025
From the lend of the Covid pandemic, this combines human interest story and recalled effects of the pandemic with the many ways that the pandemic revealed and exploited the vulnerabilities of the US. Each chapter has a focus on a vulnerable population or a broken social safety net system as its benchmark, and how it made vulnerable people disposable n their own ways. More an expose than a specific guide to action, I think this will serve as an important summary of a very difficult period in time and inform us all how we failed to fully address the problems exposed and in what ways we should consider doing better in the future. It feels a little too recent to say much more than we know if you were paying attention during the pandemic, but it’s a great accounting and I think will have a place in the future of reminding those generations of this unique period of time
June 6, 2025
This is a heavy but vital read. It discusses how many people described COVID as "non-discriminating," insisting that it wouldn't care if you were rich or poor, Black or white, gay or straight, when it infected you. Yet preexisting socioeconomic disparities affected how the virus spread, and there were epidemics within the pandemic in places such as nursing homes and prisons.
Sarah Jones places individuals at the forefront of her research, sharing anecdotes and personal stories while outlining how our society treats certain people as disposable. At the risk of creating some tonal dissonance, I would summarize the principal message of this book with the Lord Farquaad line from Shrek: "Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." It all ties back to capitalism, inequality, and the reckless pursuit of profit over people.
Sarah Jones places individuals at the forefront of her research, sharing anecdotes and personal stories while outlining how our society treats certain people as disposable. At the risk of creating some tonal dissonance, I would summarize the principal message of this book with the Lord Farquaad line from Shrek: "Some of you may die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." It all ties back to capitalism, inequality, and the reckless pursuit of profit over people.
March 7, 2025
3.5 stars. The book was billed as being in the vein of Matthew Desmond‘s Evicted, and I feel it fell pretty short in that regard. There are some great stories here, and the author draws upon her personal experience losing someone to Covid, which are important stories that needed to be told. However, the book becomes pretty repetitive after chapter 4, and I feel like it really could’ve benefited from having more detail in each anecdotal story and continuing with some of those characters throughout the book, rather than leaving them behind in each new chapter. Perhaps widening the scope of how the working class are marginalized in this country beyond just Covid would have had more of an impact.
June 20, 2025
Yoooo this book goes so hard.
“Raichik’s obsessions represent a coherent worldview: she and conservatives like her are hostile not just to science, or medicine, or education, but to the notion of secular communal life in the United States. She isn’t interested in coexistence nor are her allies. They seek the elimination of their enemies in a bid for total political control…
There can be no reckoning without accountability for the perpetrators. Blame Trump, certainly, but he fit easily in a movement that is hostile to progress, beholden to wealth, and committed to the destruction of the democratic public sphere. A saner GOP would be a boon, but even Trump’s conservative critics should reckon with their complicity in mass suffering.”
“Raichik’s obsessions represent a coherent worldview: she and conservatives like her are hostile not just to science, or medicine, or education, but to the notion of secular communal life in the United States. She isn’t interested in coexistence nor are her allies. They seek the elimination of their enemies in a bid for total political control…
There can be no reckoning without accountability for the perpetrators. Blame Trump, certainly, but he fit easily in a movement that is hostile to progress, beholden to wealth, and committed to the destruction of the democratic public sphere. A saner GOP would be a boon, but even Trump’s conservative critics should reckon with their complicity in mass suffering.”
April 15, 2025
Very first the book jacket review compares this to Evicted by Matthew Desmond, that alone is disrespectul to Matthew, as he did actualy research and lived the life of his topic. That book as incredicle. I would need to write a whole thesis on all the issues with this book. There are so many things that are incorrect and full on opinion, even on the same page the arguements are circular. Some of the references are opinon pieces and not factual. The peoples stories are random and ofter don't fit the narrative. It was just so bad. I will leave it at this, although there is so much more to say.
August 25, 2025
The title of this book is completely misleading, IMHO. The actual content is primarily made up of repetitive accounts of people lost to the COVID pandemic, which is OK...the pandemic era needs to be immortalized for the future. It almost seems, though, that Jones, her editor, and/or her publisher realized that a book focused on the ravages of COVID would not sell nearly as many copies in 2024 (& beyond), so they pulled this bait & switch. That's capitalism, I guess.
Also, the reality is that there are better books out there that actually do deal with AmeriKKKa's contempt for the underclass in much more effective detail.
Disappointing.
Also, the reality is that there are better books out there that actually do deal with AmeriKKKa's contempt for the underclass in much more effective detail.
Disappointing.
October 12, 2025
This is a collection of interviews woven together with the author’s personal narrative, ultimately providing commentary on how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the stark disparity between classes in America. Many reviewers have stated it is repetitive, but, ultimately, isn’t that the point? This isn’t one family’s experience. This happened again and again, over and over. America claims to be the greatest, yet it repeatedly fails its most vulnerable populations, its lower income citizens, and even its middle class.
And the disparities the pandemic made all too clear are much, much more obvious today - with Project 2025 more than halfway implemented.
And the disparities the pandemic made all too clear are much, much more obvious today - with Project 2025 more than halfway implemented.
April 10, 2025
This was frustrating. I agree with the author on many of the major points, but instead of letting stories and evidence tell themselves, she overloads the book with polemic. Even when she's giving facts, she writes it as opinion. At times it makes it difficult to tell if you're reading someone's story, or Jones' opinions about someone's story. Even in the best book, the author's retelling introduces potential bias, but here it's very obviously so. It also gets somewhat repetitive and I was left thinking it could have been a much better book.
April 22, 2025
Not great. Kind of a stretch linking the right and Trump to Covid poverty anti-vax anti fluoridation etc. When Jones states as she did on p 144 “…just as most American voters had rejected Donald Trump at the ballot box in 2016…” she overstates the truth. A majority now is 50.5-49.5 so let’s remember that and that the “disposable” people are being disposed by the right and the left. Lots of unrealized potential in this book. And I am not a conservative or republican just trying to be realistic
May 22, 2025
This book is a little uneven - I agree with the overall premise, though found the book a little repetitive. I think I would have liked it more had it expanded its lens. More frustratingly, I found the analysis a little too pat and devoid of nuance - everything eventually becomes some variant of conservatives bad, capitalism bad, etc. I wish it had been more tightly edited. I read “There Is No Place For Us” by Brian Goldstone a few weeks ago and it’s a much better story of how society has failed swaths of people
June 2, 2025
3.5 stars rounded up. This is a good and important book that should be more widely read - we should all have more class rage! Although I consider myself liberal and informed, there were details in here that surprised me about how quickly the lower classes were treated badly during the pandemic. That said, this book/individual chapters are too long. Usually by about three-quarters of the way through a chapter, I felt like all the relevant points had been made clearly, but there were still 5 pages to go.
August 13, 2025
This book pretty much tells it just like it was for folks during the Covid outbreak. It seems that the Trump administration and those of means were more concerned with "re-opening" the country than the number of deaths. Trump proclaimed that it was hoax, that it would just go away and if we quit testing we wouldn't have so many cases. Over 1,250,000 American died and the goverment just shrugged. Those with good health insurance and financial means did much beter that the poor, disadvantaged and the disabled whose access to services as severly limited. This book was a real eye opener.
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