The American Way of Poverty - Softcover

Sasha Abramsky is a freelance journalist and a part-time lecturer in the University Writing Program, at the University of California, Davis. His work has appeared in the Nation, the Atlantic Monthly, New York magazine, the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. In 2000 he was awarded an Open Society, Crime, and Communities Media Fellowship, and he is currently a Senior Fellow at Demos, the New York City-based think tank. His work on poverty was funded by a grant from the Open Society Foundations' Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation. He lives in Sacramento, California.

[This] portrait of poverty is one of great complexity and diversity, existential loneliness and desperation but also amazing resilience Abramsky's well-researched, deeply felt depiction of poverty is eye-opening, and his outrage is palpable. He aims to stimulate discussion, but whether his message provokes action remains to be seen.”
Kirkus Reviews

"Abramsky's portraits of the poor illustrate three striking points: the isolation, diversity-people with no jobs and people with multiple jobs-and resilience of the poor. Drawing on ideas from a broad array of equality advocates, Abramsky offers detailed policies to address poverty, including reform in education, immigration, energy, taxation, criminal justice, housing, Social Security, and Medicaid, as well as analysis of tax and spending policies that could reduce inequities."
Booklist

"Sasha Abramsky takes us deep into the long dark night of poverty in America, and it's a harrowing trip. His research and remarkable insights have resulted in a book that is stunning in its intensity."
Bob Herbert, Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and former Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times

"Incisive and necessary, The American Way of Poverty is a call to action."
Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer-prize-winning playwright

"Abramsky has written an ambitious book that both describes and prescribes. He reaches across a wised range of issues-including education, housing and criminal justice- in a sweeping panorama of poverty's elements. Assembling them in one volume forces him to be superficial on occasion, but that price is worth paying to get the broad scope... Abramsky has invited serious rethinking and issued a significant call to action."
David Shipler, New York Times Book Review

"[An] extraordinary book... extremely well researched and thorough..."
Los Angeles Review of Books

"Abramsky's approach is both heartbreaking in its look at the humans who are affected and inspiring in his explanations of how poverty can be addressed and improved... The American Way of Poverty is likely to cause fear--almost no one is exempt from unplanned disasters--but it is also likely to motivate: there are answers; this country can and should improve. Well researched and documented, Abramsky's eye-opening book should be required reading for all U.S. citizens."
Shelf Awareness

"[A] searing exposé... Abramsky's is a challenging indictment of an economy in which poverty and inequality at the bottom seem like the foundation for prosperity at the top."
Publishers Weekly, (starred review)