This is a fairly short book, and thus far from comprehensive. I was expecting something more similar to Desmond's previous work, Evicted, with more focus on in-depth statistics and interviews with individuals. This definitely utilizes some statistics and historical information, as well as brief anecdotes, but this work feels more like a persuasive essay rather than offering concrete information. While I don't disagree with most of what Desmond says (aside from feeling like the solutions he asks for are a bit too centrist and not nearly radical enough), I also don't feel like I really learned anything new.
If you're relatively new to learning about how poverty affects people in the United States and the various systems involved, as well as possible solutions, this is a solid primer.
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White queer lady in San Francisco. Knitter, transit geek, and sometime editor and cyclist. Planting peas and potatoes to prefigure an anarchist future. I listen to a lot of nonfiction audiobooks.
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bluestocking's books
2025 Reading Goal
53% complete! bluestocking has read 16 of 30 books.
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bluestocking rated When We Hold Each Other Up: 4 stars
bluestocking rated The Shock Doctrine: 5 stars
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
An introduction to "disaster capitalism" argues that the global free market has exploited crises, violence, and shock in the past …
bluestocking rated They Were Her Property: 4 stars
bluestocking reviewed Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
Review of 'Poverty, by America' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
This is a fairly short book, and thus far from comprehensive. I was expecting something more similar to Desmond's previous work, Evicted, with more focus on in-depth statistics and interviews with individuals. This definitely utilizes some statistics and historical information, as well as brief anecdotes, but this work feels more like a persuasive essay rather than offering concrete information. While I don't disagree with most of what Desmond says (aside from feeling like the solutions he asks for are a bit too centrist and not nearly radical enough), I also don't feel like I really learned anything new.
If you're relatively new to learning about how poverty affects people in the United States and the various systems involved, as well as possible solutions, this is a solid primer.
If you're relatively new to learning about how poverty affects people in the United States and the various systems involved, as well as possible solutions, this is a solid primer.
bluestocking rated Entangled Life: 4 stars
Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them. They can change our minds, heal our bodies …
bluestocking rated Yowamushi Pedal vol. 1: 5 stars
bluestocking reviewed Sabriel (The Abhorsen Trilogy) by Garth Nix
Ever since she was a tiny child, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the …
Review of 'Sabriel (The Abhorsen Trilogy)' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
I would’ve been absolutely insufferable if I read this as a kid. This was such a lush, unexpected read and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
I would’ve been absolutely insufferable if I read this as a kid. This was such a lush, unexpected read and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
bluestocking reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s …
Review of 'Gone Girl' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
Gillian Flynn really just kills it every time
Gillian Flynn really just kills it every time
bluestocking rated The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: 3 stars
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken …
bluestocking rated Practical Magic: 3 stars
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic Series, #1)
For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that went wrong in their Massachusetts …
bluestocking rated The Joy Luck Club: 4 stars
bluestocking rated The Bell Jar: 2 stars
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under -- …
bluestocking rated Trust Kids!: 4 stars
bluestocking rated Gathering Moss: 4 stars
Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Gathering Moss is a series of personal essays introducing the reader to the life cycle, the ecology, and the natural …