Author of highly anticipated book coming to Harrisburg

When sociologist Matthew Desmond released Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City in 2016, he was a relatively unknown Junior Fellow at Harvard. Within the year, Desmond would receive the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and be listed by Politico as one of “fifty people across the country who are most influencing the national political debate.”

Evicted would go on to win countless prizes and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. According to Barbara Ehrenreich, Desmond “set a new standard for reporting on poverty,” and the book would go on to receive praise from Barack Obama, the New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, and Time Magazine. To this day, Evicted is a modern classic and one of the 21st century’s most acclaimed works on poverty, housing, and economic exploitation.

Now, Matthew Desmond is back again with a new book to answer one of America’s most timeless and pressing questions: why, as the richest country on earth, does the United States have more poverty than any other advanced democracy? His new book, Poverty, By America, which hits the shelves on March 21st, will attempt to answer that question — and point us a way forward. Desmond’s publisher hits the nail on the head with this brief summary:

“Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.”

Needless to say, Poverty, By America is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year, and Desmond’s landmark work is going to change the national debate around poverty.

Desmond, who is now a sociologist at Princeton, will make an appearance at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg on Wednesday, March 22nd at 7pm to discuss his new book, answer questions, and sign copies for customers. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.midtownscholar.com.

Alex Brubaker is the manager of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore and director of the Harrisburg Book Festival. Previously, he was the editorial assistant at Rain Taxi Review of Books and the exhibit coordinator for the Twin Cities Book Festival. He is a graduate of Millersville University and now lives in Harrisburg.

Local Dramatists Guild member playwrights will be presenting their works as staged readings at Open Stage of Harrisburg as part of the regional Footlights series. February’s playwright, on February 9 at 7 p.m., will be Randy Lee Gross, Harrisburg Magazine’s managing editor.

Barbara Trainin Blank is a freelance journalist, book author, editor, and playwright. She grew up in New York City in a house rich in the arts, which are a major focus of her writing. She lived in Harrisburg for 24 years and continues to contribute to regional publications.