New Book: Amy Goldstein, Janesville: An American Story (2017).
Note: having now read this book, I do recommend it, though there are parts that will frustrate readers concerned about poverty. It tells a plant-closing story and the effect of that closing on the town of Janesville, Wisconsin. Paul Ryan is from Janesville and the frustrating parts are perhaps the pass he seems to get at times in the book–which celebrates his connection with his hometown but doesn’t go into any depth on the harms of his ideas about poverty reduction nationwide. But that critique aside, the book lets readers into the lives of those affected by the closing and shows the ways they reacted. Most powerfully, at least for me, it shows how high school kids reacted in ways to help their families and highlights the deep commitment of the teachers who helped them along the way.
Poverty Law 