A review by bookedbymadeline
Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs by Benjamin Herold

challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

3.5

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for the eARC! Compelling book, not as dry/academic as I was worried it might be. As someone who studied sociology and has a large interest in that area, I found this book really insightful!

Herold interviews 5 families throughout the US: Evanston, Chicago, IL; Plano/Lovejoy, Dallas, TX; Penn Hills, Pittsburgh,PA; Compton, LA, CA; Gwinnett County, Atlanta, GA.

With the family in Pen Hills, he also writes about his own experiences as he grew up in the same suburb but had a different viewpoint as his white family left behind Penn Hills and left a lot of issues for the Black Families, like the Smiths, to deal with.

It shows that all suburbs are affected by similar issues specifically regarding education and it’s not just one county/state dealing with it. Since Herold is an education journalist it does mainly focus on the schooling issues in the suburbs rather than giving a fuller picture including economics, jobs, housing, etc. so in this way the book isn’t exactly what I expected/hoped for.

I enjoyed that he not only shares each family’s personal experiences/issues but also the history of the suburbs. Not surprisingly a lot of the problems and dwindling of the “American dream” in suburbia is due to racism, white flight, equality/income gaps.

Intrigued to learn that most suburbs were built post WW2 and they were at the center of desegregation since they were built for middle-class white families to escape the cities (which were majority Black and Brown).

I had zero sympathy for the Becker family in Texas who kept claiming they weren’t moving suburbs because of the more Black and Brown families moving in because they were “color blind.” The Smiths were racist as fuck and a prime example of why suburbs and public schools fall apart.

By the third chapter from them, I started skimming. I found myself clenching my jaw and getting furious with the BS anti vaccine, growth hormone, “we’re colorblind and I’m terrified for my white sons” conservative shit she was spewing. I couldn’t stand hearing about how “things used to be” from them and decided it wasn’t worth my time or energy to read that hateful nonsense. And on top of that, she thought she could “cure” her kids AHDH with vitamins/food restrictions and no vaccines?! So on top of being racist they’re also ableist.

I started skimming other chapters a little by the last third of the book. In giving us a glimpse at each family, I appreciate Herold trying to draw a full picture of their lives but there were a lot of tedious, overly descriptive details. I didn’t need the full algebra lessons or minute details of a school board member’s college experience. Also didn’t help that it was 2020 COVID/election stuff which I lived through so I didn’t want to read about it 😭

I was also frustrated that such a clearly well-researched book had the author using the term Indian when he meant Native American.

The first third of the book was insightful and captivating. I was really enjoying it by the last two thirds I was often bored or confused why he was sharing certain things. Overall an informative read I’d recommend for anyone interested in the issues and decline in American public schools (not so much suburbs/urban planning like I was expecting).
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