A "New York Times "Editors' ChoiceOne of "Wall Street Journal"'s Hottest Spring Nonfiction BooksOne of "Vulture"'s 8 Books You Need to Read This Month An exhaustively researched, vividly realized and above all, unignorable book after "Evicted," it will no longer be possible to have a serious discussion about poverty without having a serious discussion about housing. Jennifer Senior, "New York Times" "Astonishing...Desmond is an academic who teaches at Harvard a sociologist or, you could say, an ethnographer. But I would like to claim him as a journalist too, and one who, like Katherine Boo in her study of a Mumbai slum, has set a new standard for reporting on poverty." Barbara Ehrenreich, "New York Times Book Review" Written with the vividness of a novel, ["Evicted"] offers a dark mirror of middle-class America s obsession with real estate, laying bare the workings of the low end of the market, where evictions have become just another part of an often lucrative business model. Jennifer Schuessler, "New York Times ""It doesn't happen every week (or every month, or even year), but every once in a while a book comes along that changes the national conversation... "Evicted" looks to be one of those books." Pamela Paul, editor of the "New York Times Book Review" Thank you, Matthew Desmond. Thank you for writing about destitution in America with astonishing specificity yet without voyeurism or judgment. Thank you for showing it is possible to compose spare, beautiful prose about a complicated policy problem. Thank you for giving flesh and life to our squabbles over inequality, so easily consigned to quintiles and zero-sum percentages. Thank you for proving that the struggle to keep a roof over one s head is a cause, not just a characteristic of poverty... "Evicted" is an extraordinary feat of reporting and ethnography. Desmond has made it impossible to ever again consider poverty in America without tackling the role of housing and without grappling with "Evicted." "Washington Post" Powerful, monstrously effective ["Evicted"] documents with impressive steadiness of purpose and command of detail the lives of impoverished renters at the bottom of Milwaukee s housing market In describing the plight of these people, Desmond reveals the confluence of seemingly unrelated forces that have conspired to create a thoroughly humiliated class of the almost or soon-to-be homeless But the power of this book abides in the indelible impression left by its stories. Jill Leovy, "The American Scholar " Gripping and important Desmond, a Harvard sociologist, cites plenty of statistics but it s his ethnographic gift that lends the work such force. He s one of a rare academic breed: a poverty expert who engages with the poor. His portraits are vivid and unsettling It s not easy to show desperate people using drugs or selling sex and still convey their courage and dignity."Evicted"pulls it off. "" Jason DeParle, "New York Review of Books " [Desmond] tells a complex, achingly powerful story There have been many well-received urban ethnographies in recent years, from Sudhir Venkatesh s "Gang Leader for a Day" to Katherine Boo s "Behind the Beautiful Forevers." Desmond s "Evicted" surely deserves to takes [its] place among these. It is an exquisitely crafted, meticulously researched exploration of life on the margins, providing a voice to people who have been shamefully ignored or, worse, demonized by opinion makers over the course of decades. " The Boston Globe ""[An] impressive work of scholarship... novelistically detailed... As Mr. Desmond points out, eviction has been neglected by urban sociologists, so his account fills a gap. His methodology is scrupulous.""" "Wall Street Journal " Like Katherine Boo s "Behind the Beautiful Forevers," this brilliant book is reportage with the depth and force of fiction. Its eye-opening details and data offer a new way to look at the affordable-housing crisis, the forces that perpetuate poverty and the policies we need to fix a crazily stacked deck. " MORE Magazine ""["Evicted"] is harrowing, heartbreaking, and heavily researched, and the plight of the characters will remain with you long after you close the book's pages... Desmond's meticulousness shows how precision is not at odds with compassionate storytelling of the underprivileged. Indeed, [it] is the respect that "Evicted" shows for its characters' flaws and mistakes that makes the book impossible to forget." "Christian Science Monitor """Evicted" is a rich, empathetic feat of storytelling and fieldwork." "Mother Jones""" "Evicted" is that rare work that has something genuinely new to say about poverty. Desmond makes a convincing case that policymakers and academics have overlooked the role of the private rental market, and that eviction 'is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty'...Evictions have become routine. Desmond s book should begin to change that."" San Francisco Chronicle ""[A] carefully researched, often heartbreaking book." "Chicago Tribune """Evicted" should provoke extensive public policy discussions. It is a magnificent, richly textured book with a Tolstoyan approach: telling it like it is but with underlying compassion and a respect for the humanity of each character, major or minor.""" "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ""By immersing himself in the everyday lives of poor renters, Desmond follows in the tradition of James Agee, whose monumental 1941 book "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" pounded the reader with clear-eyed and brutal descriptions of rural poverty in the Deep South." "Minneapolis""StarTribune" Desmond seems to be that rare person who is a dedicated and careful researcher and a phenomenal writer. The stories he tells in"Evicted"are gripping and intimate, at the same time as compelling as a novel and painstakingly illustrating how people are trapped and what the systemic implications are of that. I literally could not put it down ["Evicted"] feels like it has the potential to catalyze a movement. "" "Shelterforce" A groundbreaking work Desmond delivers a gripping, novelistic narrative This stunning, remarkable book a scholar s 21st-century "How the Other Half Lives" demands a wide audience. "Kirkus Reviews "(starred) Gripping storytelling and meticulous research undergird this outstanding ethnographic study Desmond identifies affordable housing as a leading social justice issue of our time and offers concrete solutions to the crisis. "Publishers Weekly "(starred) "Highly recommended." "Library Journal "(starred) "It s hard to paint a slumlord as a sympathetic character, but Harvard professor Desmond manages to do so in this compelling look at home evictions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of America s most segregated cities... [Desmond] does a marvelous job telling these harrowing stories of people who find themselves in bad situations, shining a light on how eviction sets people up to fail... This is essential reading. "Booklist "(starred) " Evicted" is astonishing a masterpiece of writing and research that fills a tremendous gap in our understanding of poverty. Taking us into some of America s poorest neighborhoods, Desmond illustrates how eviction leads to a cascade of events, often triggered by something as simple as a child throwing a snowball at a car, that can trap families in a cycle of poverty for years.Beautiful, harrowing, and deeply human, "Evicted" is a must read for anyone who cares about social justice in this country. I loved it. Rebecca Skloot, author of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" This story is about one of the most basic human needs a roof overhead and yet Matthew Desmond has told it in sweeping, immersive, heartbreaking fashion. We enter the lives of both renters and landlords at shoulder height, experiencing their triumphs, struggles, cruelty, kindness, loss, and love. One hopes that "Evicted" will change public policy. It will certainly change how people respond to the world and those who inhabit it. Jeff Hobbs, author of "The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace ""This sensitive, achingly beautiful ethnography should refocus our understanding of poverty in America on the simple challenge of keeping a roof over your head." Robert D. Putnam, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University, and author of"Bowling Alone"and"Our Kids" "This is an extraordinary and crucial piece of work. Read it. Please, read it. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of "Random Family " Matthew Desmond tells stories of people at their most vulnerable. The characters that populate this lyrical book, many of whom are women and children, are our true American heroes, showing great courage and mythic strength against forces that are much larger than the individual. Their stories are gripping and moving tragic, too. It s a wonder and a shame that here, in the most prosperous country in the world, a roof over one s head can be elusive for so many. " " Jesmyn Ward, author of"Men We Reaped"and"Salvage the Bones" " Evicted" is a striking account of a severe and rapidly developing form of economic hardship in the U.S.Matthew Desmond s riveting narrative of the experiences of families in Milwaukee embroiled in the process of eviction will not only shock general readers, but it will broaden the perspective of experts on urban poverty as well.This powerful, well-written book also includes revealing portraits of profit-seeking landlords, as well as important findings from comprehensive surveys to back up the ethnographic research."Evicted" is that rare book that both enlightens and serves as an urgent call for action. William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard University, and author of "When Work Disappears ""Sociology s next great hope [Desmond] is positioned to intervene in the inequality debate in a big way. "" "Chronicle of Higher Education ""The extent of Desmond s research is truly astonishing. More astonishing still is the fact that he s able to condense all of his observations and data into a single nonfiction volume that is both unsettling and nearly impossible to put down.""" "Chicago Review of Books " Desmond s acute observational skills, his facility with reported dialogue and his ability to wrench chaotic stories into clear prose make "Evicted" a vivid, if sometimes grueling, read. "The Independent " Desmond, a young sociologist whose fieldwork in Milwaukee was the subject of Disrupted Lives, this magazine s January-February 2014 cover article, here details several of those lives in painful, novelistic detail. But it is all fact and all twenty-first-century American. "" "Harvard Magazine " ["Evicted"] could do more than anything written in years to get fixing welfare reform and addressing urban poverty back on the national agenda. It will be hard for anyone to read "Evicted" and not be outraged over this nation s treatment of millions of low-income Americans. That is a huge accomplishment, and Desmond deserves high praise. "" "Beyond Chron ""Desmond's important book might set out practical prescriptions for solutions such as improving the size of the housing voucher program, but the deeply touching portraits are what really make"Evicted"the heavyweight that it is. It should be mandatory reading for everyone, especially politicians and others who walk the corridors of power. That such bruising poverty can exist in the world's richest country is a scathing indictment of our regulatory policies." Poornima Apte, "BookBrowse.com""

Matthew Desmondis the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and codirector of the Justice and Poverty Project. A former member of the Harvard Society of Fellows, he is the author of the award-winning book"On the Fireline, "coauthor of two books on race, and editor of a collection of studies on severe deprivation in America. His work has been supported by the Ford, Russell Sage, and National Science Foundations, and his writing has appeared in the"New York Times"and"Chicago Tribune." In 2015, Desmond was awarded a MacArthur Genius grant."