Play Book Tag discussion

Evicted – Matthew Desmond
Digital audio read by Dion Graham.
5*****

Subtitle: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Fascinating. Frustrating. Horrifying. Compassionate. Informative. Distressing. Enlightening. Desmond thoroughly explores the effects on impoverished residents of being repeatedly evicted and contrasts the plight of the poor with the profits made at their expense.

Many of the people he profiles are not people I’d want to rent to back in the days when I was a landlord; they were dealing with drug addiction, anger-management issues, domestic violence. And yet, they are human beings, most with hopes and dreams of a better life, but stuck in an endless cycle or disappointment and despair. Desmond lays out evidence that denying them a decent shelter perpetuates the cycle of poverty. And the landlords he profiles are not people I’d want to be friends with either. They did little to maintain the properties and simply took their profits to the bank.

In the end, I'm left with more questions than answers, but these are questions that need to be asked, and answers that need to be sought. I'm really sorry that I'll miss my F2F book club meeting in September.

Dion Graham does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. Clear diction, and a good pace gave me time to absorb information.


LINK to my review