Harvard sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond will be discussing his new book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City at Labyrinth Books on Wednesday, May 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Based on years of embedded fieldwork, Evicted tells the story of eight families and their landlords in the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee. 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, and disproportionately for minorities.

According to the Washington Post, Evicted is “an extraordinary feat of reporting and ethnography. Desmond has made it impossible to ever again consider poverty in America without tackling the role of housing — and without grappling with Evicted.”

Matthew Desmond is professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard and co-director of the Justice and Poverty Project. He is the author of On the Fireline, co-author of two books on race, and editor of a collection of studies on severe deprivation in America.

A percentage of the proceeds from book-sales at the event will go to Housing Initiatives of Princeton (HIP). HIP is a non-profit organization that envisions the Princeton area as a diverse community where families of all income levels can thrive with secure housing, decent employment, and a good education. HIP helps low-income working families in and around
Princeton avoid homelessness and find security by offering transitional housing and temporary rental assistance. Coupling transitional housing with supportive services, HIP also provides temporary rental assistance to enable low-income families to retain existing housing or acquire affordable housing.

RSVP to info-pr@labyrinthbooks.com.