The poor get poorer

Sacramento-based journalist Sasha Abramsky mixes data with personal stories, revealing that the most surprising thing about poverty in the United States is its amazing diversity. The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives (Nation Books, $26.99) is divided into two sections, the first of which examines the lives and experiences of people who live in poverty, often invisibly. Abramsky includes interviews with people whose homes are underwater, nice cars have been repossessed, and the big question is where their next meal will come from. While intransigent poverty in slums, trailer parks and colonias still exists, the face of poverty is often now indistinguishable from the “middle class.” The second part of the book is devoted to suggestions for programs that could make a dent in America's growing income inequality.