{"id":11,"date":"2018-05-07T13:47:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T13:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2025-06-09T14:39:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:39:17","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Book<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\"Evicted:\u00a0Poverty<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City<\/em>, Matthew Desmond takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the $20 a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stickup after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind.The fates of these families are in the hands of two landlords: Sherrena Tarver, a former schoolteacher turned inner-city entrepreneur, and Tobin Charney, who runs one of the worst trailer parks in Milwaukee. They loathe some of their tenants and are fond of others, but as Sherrena puts it, \u201cLove don\u2019t pay the bills.\u201d She moves to evict Arleen and her boys a few days before Christmas. Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. But today, most poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers. In vivid, intimate prose, Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America\u2019s vast inequality\u2014and to people\u2019s determination and intelligence in the face of hardship.Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this masterful book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Matthew Desmond<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Matthew<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University. His primary teaching and research interests include urban sociology, poverty, race and ethnicity, organizations and work, social theory, and ethnography. In 2015, Desmond was awarded his MacArthur Genius Grant for \u201crevealing the impact of eviction on the lives of the urban poor and its role in perpetuating racial and economic inequality.\u201d In 2018, he received the Stowe Prize for Writing to Advance Social Justice, awarded by the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center to authors whose work shines a light on critical social issues. Previous recipients include Ta-Nehisi Coates and Bryan Stevenson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About First Readings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First Readings is a shared intellectual endeavor for all beginning Brown students. Now in its twelfth year, the program provides first-year and transfer students with a common text designed to introduce them to the University and the pleasures and rigors of undergraduate academic life. Students receive the assignment over the summer and prepare a short response paper highlighting something they find particularly compelling, difficult, or unclear in the reading. During Orientation, students meet in small groups for a First Readings Seminar led by a faculty member or administrator. These seminars afford students the chance to meet their peers and begin conversations based upon the shared reading and initial written reactions. The Dean of the College and Brown Alumni Association sponsor the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown\u2019s First Readings committee\u2014which includes faculty members, undergraduates, and an associate dean\u2014selects the book with the input of the campus community. The committee looks for texts that offer an intellectually rich learning experience that encourages reflection and dialogue for Brown\u2019s diverse incoming class.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Book In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the $20 a month she has left after paying for … About<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/firstreading2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}