The Stimulus Behind the Book
The book actually originated while the author was still attending college. He targeted his topic for a PhD on a thesis he had already spent much time developing:
“poverty in America, which I saw as the wellspring of many miseries.”
How to Handle Research into Misery
The author explains his response to a common question that is posed to him: how was he personally affected by bearing witness to the conditions of poverty and the suffering it engenders. In fact, he often finds a way to skirt having to provide an honest answer by offering instead a variety of dishonest answers which he
“drops like those smoke bombs magicians use when they want to glide offstage, unseen”
The Fundamentals of Social Outreach
No punches are pulled when it comes to the author shaming those who do not deign to help those afflicted by the conditions of poverty. In fact, he situates community involvement within the grand scheme of the great American experience:
“Working on behalf of the common good is the engine of democracy.”
Laraine
Many real life characters populate the book and make it more immediate, palpable and tangible. Part of his process by the author is to make the characters relatable even though their lives may seem an impossible and unlikely distance away from their own lives. Once such person is Laraine who comes to life through metaphor:
“When she was happy she beamed, flashing a gap-toothed smile; and when she was depressed her whole face drooped as if being pulled down by a hundred tiny lead sinkers.”
The Fallout from Eviction
In summing up the consequential effects of eviction as a condition of poverty, the author uses the metaphor of life as a journey. For most people, eviction is seen as merely an inconvenient off-ramp causing temporary delays to getting to where one wants to go. The reality is much more ominous"
“Eviction does not simply drop poor families into a dark valley…it fundamentally redirects their way…onto a different…more difficult path.”
