'Essential. A compelling and damning exploration of the abuse of one of our basic human rights: shelter.' Owen Jones
Arleen spends nearly all her money on rent but is kicked out with her kids in Milwaukee's coldest winter for years. Doreen's home is so filthy her family call it 'the rat hole'. Lamar, a wheelchair-bound ex-soldier, tries to work his way out of debt for his boys. Scott, a nurse turned addict, lives in a gutted-out trailer. This is their world. And this is the twenty-first century: where fewer and fewer people can afford a simple roof over their head.
From abandoned slums to shelters, eviction courts to ghettoes, Matthew Desmond spent years living with and recording the stories of those struggling to survive - yet who won't give up. A work of love, care and humanity, Evicted reminds us why, without a home, nothing else is possible. It is one of the most necessary books of our time.
'This is an extraordinary and crucial piece of work. Read it. Please, read it' - Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family
'Sensitive, achingly beautiful' - Robert D. Putnam, author of Our Kids
The rental market is rigged, it is especially so for the poor. I don't know how one of the most basic of necessities has become so abused. Are there any reputable landlords out there, I think not, especially in poor communities.
The book follows eight families and two landlords experience with renting and renters in Milwaukee, it is not a pretty story. We tend to forget the depth of poverty in this country. The vacancy rate for cheap housing is in the single digits, it's a landlords market and they know and exploit it. Very sad, heart wrenching read, but also a necessary read.
