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Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
22 reviews
zoe_271's review
4.75
Evicted follows several real people in poverty between 2008-09, Desmond having lived among them for months to get as true a look into their lives and struggles as possible. He masterfully depicts how hopelessness and struggle can keep people down. The importance of having a stable roof over one's head truly cannot be understated, and yet this is a privilege the richest, supposedly most well-developed nation on the planet does not choose to prioritise, allowing children to grow up in cockroach-infested drug-ridden homes, not through parental failure, but policy choices.
I cannot emphasise the need to read this book enough for anybody wanting to understand the intersectionality of poverty. Desmond displays fantastically what we all know - home is the centre of our lives, and for that to be unstable tilts everything else off-balance.
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
fkshg8465's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
amyvl93's review
4.5
Desmond treats all the individuals he features with such empathy, it really felt like you were alongside them. There are moments of great tragedy sitting alongside everyday tragedies. He shines a light on systems that exploit those they should protect - from the incredibly profitable business of filling your properties with those on state support because you don't run the risk of losing rent, whilst not considering whether the properties really meet their needs, to the truly insane practice of raising grievances against landlords when residents call the police (including in cases of domestic abuse) that can lead families being evicted because landlords don't want to be considered nuisance properties. When this happened to one family, who finally appeared to be on the 'up', I very nearly cried out of frustration for them.
Alongside the problems of housing, Evicted also looks at the factors that can tip people what many may refer to as 'chaotic lives'. Drug addiction is a pattern for many of those profiled here - a nurse who loved their job who gained an opioid habit following an injury loses his job after he stole and finds himself in a trailer park. But alongside this is abusive relationships, childhood trauma, limited employment that enables the flexibility that many women raising children need and proximity to crime. The families that are able to find stability are those that are able to finally get themselves into spaces where they can build connections, find stable employment and access support - all of which is underpinned by high quality housing. Desmond very clearly articulates how being stuck in a horrible home impacts the way people feel about themselves; and how a home to be proud of improves people's ways of seeing themselves - which is even more true of the children and teenagers profiled here.
Written in 2016, so much of Desmond's writing and findings feel prescient to today. I'm looking forward (?) to reading his latest book Poverty next.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief
knitswhilereading's review
4.75
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Drug abuse
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
rystonlentil43's review
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Fire/Fire injury
esjackson's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Incest, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Murder
bessadams's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
hellavaral's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Racism
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
daveketter's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Suicide and Abandonment
savvylit's review against another edition
4.0
For an informative nonfiction book, Evicted was immensely readable. I couldn't help but turn each page, hoping for each tenant to find a stable home. I also found myself increasingly disgusted by both landlords and the criminal justice system for their ability to take away a basic human right (shelter) with seeming ease or even righteousness.
Another aspect of Evicted that I enjoyed was Desmond's postscript regarding how he conducted the research for this book. I had wondered how involved he'd become in the lives of the folks that he followed and I appreciated his addressing that question. I think that Desmond's explanation of ethnography was fascinating and I was also pleased to read that he had developed genuine friendships with a lot of the interviewees.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism