“Evicted”, written by Matthew Desmond, tells true stories about the lives of families who face eviction every day and the hardship that they go through to try and bring their family back together. Desmond himself went through a similar ordeal to a certain extent when he was younger. He shares a story about money being tight for his family and remembering when the gas was shut off at his home. Although his wasn’t as tragic as the stories in his book, Desmond’s personal experience, specifically when the bank took his childhood home, started his curiosity about poverty in America. From there his curiosity took charge and he started his journey which is now called “Evicted”.
Throughout the book, Desmond evaluates the lives of tenants and landlords from both a trailer park and apartment complex. We meet several characters throughout the book such as Sherrena, the landlord, and Scott, the heroin addict. We follow them through their everyday lives and get a sense of what it feels like to live in poverty-stricken communities. By following the stories of these characters, we see both the good times: finding the perfect place at a good price, to the bad: having the house burn down. Once you pick up this book it’ll be hard to put down.
In my opinion, “Evicted” is a great book that every adult should read. It gives you a great perspective of what it’s like to live in poverty and not know where or how long you will be able to live somewhere. Desmond points out that “home is the center of life”(293). To most people having a home is a given, but for people such as Scott, they have to fight to stay in a home as long as they can before they face eviction due to not having the funds to pay the high rent bills. Without a home, you have no sense of yourself and that’s the most important thing in life. Desmond’s strength was being able to capture the reality by going and spending months with the tenants and landlords; going with them to eviction court and helping them look for new places to stay. By going to the frontline, Desmond was able to give a different perspective and that’s what made this book great.
Desmond is trying to get the attention of the government to make changes in the poorer communities. He gives an idea that will help housing become more affordable and help both the tenants and the landlords. This book will help get the word out, but there needs to be a change. People should not be forced to live like what’s described in this book, especially if there is a better way. Through Evicted, Desmond is trying to get Americans to think about what’s going on in their environment and what could be going on in their own backyards. By reading this book, you will have the urge to question the government and find out what you can do to help the many people who evicted every day.
