The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man

by Nels Anderson

2014 Reprint of 1961 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This is an account, written with insight and sympathy, of the life of the hobo, life in "Hobohemia," a frontier that was already beginning to vanish when this study originally appeared in 1923. The author, drawing from his own experience as a hobo, pictures life in the "main stem" of Halsted and State Streets in Chicago. Here are the customs and class distinctions, language, songs, morals and intellectual life of this body of men who, for widely varying reasons, chose the migratory life. A new introduction by the author places the hobo in historical perspective and explains his disappearance from the American scene.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Anthropology, History

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

Reviews

[Kølin Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering this is basically a sociology textbook, it's well-written and presents many of the facts without bias. It can act as a window into a bygone era, that even upon its re-release in the 1960s was already a relic of the past. For that reason, I enjoyed it. Otherwise, it's a textbook and thus rather dry and occasionally redundant.

[Erwan Moysan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un classique. On apprend beaucoup sur leur vie, mais malheureusement pas beaucoup sur leur travail.

[Polkomm · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first empiric efforts to describe social reality.