(5 / 5) Evicted – Matthew Desmond
My book club read this book in November and honestly, I think it’s safe to say that it was one of the best books we read this year in book club. We had our largest turn-out at the meeting to discuss this one and our conversation was phenomenal.
Many people find non-fiction difficult to read (for good reason) but this ethnography was focused on the stories/lives of individuals living in Milwaukee, WI struggling with housing insecurity and was so compelling that I blew through it in two days! Housing insecurity and evictions are a very real problem in this country and this book sheds light on the many issues faced by not only people struggling with poverty and housing but also the issues that landlords in these areas deal with on a daily basis.
Matthew Desmond does an excellent job of not painting any particular group of people in a single stroke, everyone struggles and has problems, everyone has ups and downs, and Desmond makes certain that the reader can’t simply cast those evicted as “lazy, ignorant folks who deserve what they got” nor the landlords as “greedy slumlords.” Rather, Desmond highlights the complicated nature of the issues surrounding housing insecurity and challenges the reader to ask the tough questions and even question their own presuppositions about people who are evicted and the landlords who evict them.
I highly recommend reading this book! It is well written and engaging and if you find non-fiction a struggle to get through, I think you’ll find this one compelling and easy to read.
Read on my friends!
-Haddi
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