Join a book club that is reading Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City!

Astoria Non-fiction Book Club

Welcome to the Astoria Non-fiction Book Club! This is a space for progressive-minded folks to meet (in-person) and discuss our favorite non-fiction books. We're based in Astoria, but open to people from all around the city.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

In Evicted, Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they each struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Evicted transforms our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving one of twenty-first-century America’s most devastating problems.

BUY THE BOOK

448 pages

Average rating: 8.17

120 RATINGS

|

9 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

Fantasyfangirl
Apr 13, 2024
10/10 stars
Definitely worth the read. It’s told with stories so it’s an enjoyable read but you still learn about all sorts of facts and figures. It opened my eyes to the obstacles and barriers that we make impossible for those in poverty to overcome. I will not look at inner city neighborhoods or trailer parks the same way again. Already thinking of ways to try and help this problem in my own city. I only wish I had actually read this when I was a landlord.
Anonymous
Dec 28, 2023
10/10 stars
Well investigated, well researched, well written account of the growing inequities of income and housing in America. This should be required reading for high school students, especially those fortunate enough (such as myself) to have never known what it's like to wonder where your next meal is coming from and where you'll be sleeping tonight.
erinmarie0903
Nov 28, 2023
10/10 stars
As someone who was actually living in Milwaukee at the time this book takes place - I would HIGHLY recommend it. Milwaukee is a city with such amazing potential, yet such horrible poverty and segregation. This book follows a few families over the course of a year and details their struggles in some of the most segregated Milwaukee neighborhoods (African American north side, Hispanic near south side & poor white far south side)
E Clou
May 10, 2023
8/10 stars
I wish the author had put the "About This Project" at the beginning of the book, and I recommend that if you read this book you start with that section. When I began the book I had the expectation that the book would have a lot of history, politics, policy, with some personal examples, as many nonfiction books focusing on a particular legal or policy issue typically do. This book is not like that, it's an ethnography. It is more of a biography of several people going through evictions - and the one landlord that was willing to participate. The distance between my expectations of the book and the actual substance of it made it made it difficult to finish. Another thing that made it very difficult to finish the book was how deeply depressing the subject is (granted it's important that it feel depressing but it makes it very difficult). That said, I am very glad I finished it, despite- or because of- all the tears.
alissamv
Jan 28, 2023
7/10 stars
This book was very insightful on how broken the system is. I commend Matthew for immersing himself in the environment for so long. It was a slow start for me and sometimes the stats left my mind wandering elsewhere but overall a decent book and I would recommend if for no other reason than to shine light on this issue.

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.