Max Pearl reviewed Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Review of 'Evicted' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is one of the most depressing books I've read recently (and I've read a lot of depressing non-fiction.) But it's an important read - I really recommend it.
He follows a number of people in Milwaukee, WI to look at how poverty makes housing uncertain, and how evictions make things so much worse. He follows tenants as well as landlords. You get a peek into how they live their daily lives.
It is so clear how the incentives, both for tenants and landlords, are such that people are continually stuck in a cycle of sub-standard housing, evictions, and homelessness. And the timing and setting doesn't even address the issues that arise when housing is as expensive it is in some coastal cities. There are simple solutions to this problem - solutions we know are unlikely to be politically possible in this country.
Anyway, it's a really well written, engaging, and worth a read.