An in-depth look at the economic troubles in Detroit. A hard read but a good one.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The author has taken a hard look at the state of affairs in Detroit. Through the voices of seven people whose lives have been changed forever by the mismanagement of the city and its eventual bankruptcy.

I visited Detroit regularly during the late '80s and through the '90s. It was a huge, sprawling place and going downtown was heartbreaking. To see block after block of neglected and abandoned homes and businesses.

There is enough blame to go around in this look at how cities are not getting the support they need to provide the services people need to survive and thrive. Everything is broken. The real estate market, the banks, the inept leadership, the lack of state and federal support. 

About 40 percent of the city lives below the poverty level. Where is the investment in creating new jobs? How do these opportunists get by with paying $1000 for a foreclosed home and turning around and charging 3 times that in rent? The entire thing is falling apart and who is going to bail them out?

Detroit isn't the only city in trouble. We just rarely hear anything about the others. The research in this book is very well done!

I appreciate the author bringing this into the light. And I hope people read this and stand up and do the right thing by their fellow human beings.

Highly Recommended Reading!

NetGalley/  November 19th, 2019 by St. Martin's Press

Broke is the type of book that everyone should read simply to be better informed. When you live in the South in the country, it's hard to imagine a place like Detroit, especially the most poverty stricken areas, because I've never actually seen anything remotely close. I couldn't explain the why or how of the housing crisis any more than I could fly to the moon. That's why I chose to read this book. I want to be informed. Broke definitely gave me an education about subjects unknown to me. The Detroit situation is so much worse than words can say. I'm glad a book was written about the poorest from their own perspectives. How can anyone understand what they have not experienced? The author obviously researched tons of information. The result is a well written thoughtful story about heartbreaking hopeless situations that seem impossible to someone like me. It's beyond unfortunate that this is truth instead of fiction. Read this book and inform yourself. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

It isn't that this book is a bad or poorly written book about Detroit, but there are better books out there. Jodie Adams Kirshner delivers a very well researched book about Detroit and its monolithic problems through the eyes of seven Detroiters (I use the term loosely as the list includes non-natives whom likely fall into the category of carpetbaggers). While the individual stories told in the book are about unique individuals the book itself just failed to stand out of the pack for me.

Having said that, I still think it's worth a read. If it weren't for having read several of Kirshner's predecessors this book might have been able to get a few hooks into me. Unfortunately, it felt derivative.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy to read and review.

This book takes a look at the present day dysfunction of the city of Detroit through the lens of several of its inhabitants, recounting their troubles and pulling back the curtain to reveal the forces and decisions which caused problems.

Having lived outside of Detroit for close to 30 years, I was drawn to this book to learn more about the city. Further, I've really enjoyed other adjacent nonfiction (Nickel and Dimed, A $500 House in Detroit, and Evicted come to mind).

While the topic held my interest the structure caused me difficulty. I found it difficult to go back and forth between broader passages and the narration of an individual's circumstances, and to go from one individual to another. It's possible that the eArc format contained fewer visual cues (headings) than the finished book

With thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for the Arc.

This was okay, but seemed like mostly the author's pity party for herself. Everyone has hard times, and she writes as though she is the only one. Not so great.........

We've seen the news headlines about cities filing for bankruptcy and, of course, we know how bad it sounds. But, how is it felt on a personal level? Jodie Adams Kirshner's Broke follows seven Detroit residents to answer that question.

A lot of our information input lives in statistics. We hear numbers, we are told how bad something is, but if we haven't lived it or had someone close to us live it, then we often can't grasp the magnitude of these issues. Books like Kirshner's serves to help bridge that gap and help us to feel empathy for those who are affected by policy. It doesn't seek to gain pity, however. There is nothing in the book that suggests that you should feel guilty for not seeing the struggle as it is, but the effect is that you will understand the issues more holistically.

I am not well-educated in these issues, yet I found this book well-written and well-researched. I came away with a better understanding of how policies and predatory practices can destroy a community. It really wasn't that long ago that Detroit was a glittering city - it's scary how quickly it changed.

Thank you to Jodie Adams Kirshner, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for allowing me access to this book. As always, all opinions are my own.

I've grown up near Detroit, and always wondered how everything has gone so off-the-rails with the housing. This book is an engrossing look at how the government has failed the community, leading to decimation of entire neighborhoods. I think this is a fantastic read that everyone can learn from.

Eye opening look at how government loans bank loans took advantage of people in Detroit looking to buy homes in a market that was decimated abandoned homes stripped clean of everything that can be stolen stoves ,toilets ,copper wiring .We meet decent people ,who do not have money to purchase homes in the suburbs who will negotiate ridiculous deals ,terms to get the American dream of a home.This is in a lot of ways an American Tragedy families who move into homes start working on them just to discover they don’t have clear deeds.Heartbreaking stories .a sad very moving study.#netgalley #st.Martinsboojs

Broke is a well researched book and informative. The book is well written and it is sad how our politicians spend the money not caring of the damage they do. They are wreckless and do not care about the poor.