Interesting information. I missed the personal stories from Evicted that made me connect with the topic and the people. This one fell a bit short.

Poverty by America is a powerful book and a must read. I learned so much from reading this book, and it opened my eyes to the plight of people in our country. I will definitely return to this book again!

A "wow. I look forward to re-reading this and annotating it for myself. It gets to why poverty in America is unique and why it exists. It examines ways funding and resources are kept from poor people beyond military spending. It tackles white supremacy culture as scarcity culture. It's engaging enough to hold your attention but it's well-researched and nuanced that you'll want to take your time with it.

This is beautifully written and makes the important point that we choose to sustain poverty. The end, sadly, becomes quite polemical.

I don't want to be poor. but I am and this gives me a little insight. I am never really happy to read about the dystopian hellscape we call América but here I am .

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This book challenged me. Some of it was new to me, some of it was well known. Like some reviewers, I think I would have liked to see more data and a realistic action plan, but overall a solid read. I’ll think about it for a long time.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I devoured Desmond's first book Evicted and recommended it to all of my friends and coworkers and anyone who would listen. I think what is missing from this book is the first person narrative from people in the US living in poverty. This book is facts and facts and more facts. I wish there was a more human element to it. That was what got me hooked on Evicted was the storytelling and getting to hear first hand knowledge of people going through these situations. I found the book interesting just not as gripping. And it took me a long time to slog through. Glad I read it. But I would recommend Evicted over this book.

Matthew Desmond has a knack for explaining complex and painful issues in a way that is both accessible and enraging. Poverty in America, as he explains it, is neither an accident or unwanted. It is a necessary part of the economy as we have built it. Devastating and honest.

Matthew Desmond's previous book, Evicted, changed the way I think about housing and his newest release Poverty, by America does it again. Desmond clearly argues how America is the villain and creates its poverty problem on its own. Books about the poor can often fall into sensationalist poverty porn, but Desmond deploys personal stories to ground his manifesto in reality.

This is required reading for anyone who works in social services, who is anti-capitalist or capitalism critical and who wants to make sure everyone in their neighborhood has a place to call home.

Wonky. A lot of numbers and statistics and percentage this, average that, etc. etc. The wonkiness drags the book and prevents the reader from establishing a consistent flow, making Poverty a far more challenging read than it has any right to be. The premise is poverty has a wide ranging effect on those mired in its’ grip and the privileged and privileged adjacent can make some adjustments that would go a long way in aiding the poor. It really wouldn’t take much but the will is lacking. He ultimately delivers enough information so one can see that poverty can be eradicated with more efficient policy and and a more informed citizenry. A book that serves as a siren call, you just have to fight through the noise(the numbers) to hear it clearly.

Matthew Desmond does it again. Showing the the privatized safety net that came after WWII has missed folks and that Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" is unfinished. We can't have guns and butter.

Desmond takes a searing and unflinching look at poverty in America with statistics and anecdotes. Important read and insightful.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Pulitzer Prize winning author of Evicted, Matthew Desmond - 4 stars!

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. In this book, Desmond, gives his opinions as to why this is true and ways to change it.

I was a huge fan of Evicted, and it made me think and feel so much about the plight of the poor and homeless. This book should make you feel all that as well, but to me it was more of an opinion piece. Desmond gave lots of ways we can change poverty (getting the IRS to change tax laws and go after the cheaters, for example) which are great in theory but difficult in practice. Many of his suggestions may help some but hurt the middle-class poor in the process. It's important that this is a conversation though, but realize this is definitely a left-leaning book.

Is Desmond insinuating that richer Americans are part of the problem in keeping poorer Americans poor?

Yes, exactly.

And it’s devastating—but enlightening—to read in detail how it happens, often unaware.

For instance, Desmond writes,

“By one estimate, simply collecting unpaid federal income taxes from the top 1 percent of households would bring in some $175 billion a year. We could just about fill the entire poverty gap in America if the richest among us simply paid all the taxes they owed.”

Desmond says that the average rich and middle-class family draws on the same number of government benefits as the average poor family.

Virtually all Americans, rich or poor, benefit from some form of public aid. “Today, the biggest beneficiaries of federal aid are affluent families.”

And the more the rich receive, the less available there is for the poor.

“Decade after decade, the poverty rate has remained flat even as federal relief has surged. How could this be? — Part of the answer, I learned, lies in the fact that a fair amount of government aid earmarked for the poor never reaches them.”

Desmond calls on us to become poverty abolitionists.

“We are connected, members of a shared nation and a shared economy, where the advantages of the rich often come at the expense of the poor. But that arrangement is not inevitable or permanent. It was made by human hands and can be unmade by them.“

Specifically, here are just a few suggestions that Desmond gives in Poverty, by America.

* Make friends with those who are poor, not just to help them (although do that too if you’re able), but for genuine connection; you’ll become more familiar with their struggles.
* Allow the IRS to crack down on corporations and individuals who cheat on their taxes. (Desmond says, “Studies have shown that most Americans pay 90 percent of the taxes they owe, but the ultra-rich pay only 75 percent.“)
* Be aware of not only the environmental impact of your purchases, but also the poverty impact.
* Investigate what a fair minimum wage should be and then vote for legislators who are supportive.
* Develop a mindset of alleviating poverty instead of overlooking it.
* Make it less complicated and confusing for those who need aid to receive it.

Desmond concludes his book with this:

“Every person, every company, every institution that has a role in perpetuating poverty also has a role in ameliorating it. The end of poverty is something to stand for, to march for, to sacrifice for. . . . The citizens of the richest nation in the world can and should finally put an end to it. We don’t need to outsmart this problem. We need to outhate it.”

Poverty, by America isn’t a how-to book on solving poverty, but it is a compelling book on recognizing the problems. And encouraging us to do better.

I highly recommend it.

My thanks to NetGalley + Crown for the review copy of this book.

Desmond is an incredibly talented writer, as we saw in "Evicted." Unfortunately, his statistical work is sloppy in this book. His entire thesis is undermined by measures of poverty that include safety net benefits, which show - contrary to his argument - that we have actually made tremendous strides in reducing poverty in America since the 1960s. He can paint beautiful pictures, but his slippery handling of data makes the reader approach his narrative with a skeptical eye. A shame, as this had potential to change the conversation. Instead the reader will come away with a misimpression about how intractable the problem of poverty and how difficult a solution may be.

I read Matthew Desmond's book Evicted when it first came out, and it opened my eyes to a lot of the social problems in the US that I never knew much about. This book expands more on the issue of poverty, focusing on the many reasons why the problem persists in this country. This is a well written book full of empathy and compassion, and I think everyone would benefit from reading it.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC. I believe this book is so necessary in the discussion on why we have so much poverty in such a wealthy country like America. The author lays out beautifully the many reasons and, due to the systems that have been created (historically to keep certain groups down), many of us contribute to the ongoing crisis. This is a book that will change the way that one looks at this issue and possibly will encourage people to make small and large changes so that everyone can one day have security, prosperity and eventually true freedom.

POVERTY, BY AMERICA by Matthew Desmond (Evicted) has been getting quite a bit of attention lately, including coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Economist. Plus Desmond, Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, will be speaking April 12 at local Family Action Network events with fellow scholars Reuben Jonathan Miller and Alex Kotlowitz. If you cannot make either event, a video recording of the evening session should be posted soon. Desmond's analytical ability and skills as an award-winning author are once again evident as he encourages readers to tackle tough questions, particularly "Why Haven't We Made More Progress?" He is unflinching in his commentary, noting in the prologue that "This is who we are: the richest country on earth, with more poverty that any other advanced democracy," stressing that the United States has more poor people than Australia or Venezuela's entire populations. The statistics are astounding (e.g., more than one million public school children are homeless), but Desmond wants his readers to move beyond looking at the poor, saying "those of us living lives of privilege and plenty must examine ourselves." POVERTY, BY AMERICA received a starred review from Booklist and will be on our shelves soon.

Video recording link: https://www.familyactionnetwork.net/video/

Other reviews:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/magazine/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond.html
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/22/poverty-by-america-by-matthew-desmond-review-how-the-rich-keep-the-poor-down
https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/03/15/poverty-by-america-is-a-fierce-polemic-on-an-enduring-problem

Matthew Desmond's book Evicted was one of the most impactful and important books I've read in a decade; I've recommended it personally and professionally many times. Evicted was measured and balanced in examining the root causes of home insecurity in America, while still bringing the human stories of eviction to life. Poverty, by America, is a different read: you can feel Desmond's outrage and emotion throughout. I don't know if this makes for stronger arguments (indeed, I felt Evicted to be more detailed and well-researched) but certainly any reader will feel the urgency and necessity in his words. Poverty, by America offers a more global and impassioned argument for eradicating poverty: because "poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere."

Small note: Desmond got me energized; I believe in his thesis and wanted to do more when I finished reading. The book could benefit from a list of organizations, ways to help, and next steps.

As always Matthew Desmond really challenges you when you read his work. There is so much wrong with our system. He has a lot of suggestions for ways to work toward a solution, but it is pretty overwhelming. I'm grateful he has written this and wish our legislators would read it and take it to heart. Dion Graham is an outstanding narrator for this material. I appreciate the strength of conviction that he conveys. I am glad to have the print book in order to start a list on what I can do. Like his book Eviction he does a great job of telling stories of individuals as well as a broad overview of our current system.