"Democracy must begin at home, and its home is the neighborly community.”
– Eric Klinenberg, Palaces for the People

 

 

 

In This Kit You’ll Find:

• 3 copies of Deep South by Paul Theroux
• 3 copies of Home Town by Tracy Kidder
• 3 copies of Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
• 3 copies of Palaces for the People by Ian Frazier
• 1 copy of discussion questions for Palaces for the People (you may keep)
• Book sign-up sheet to keep track of books (you may keep)

Themes for Discussion:

• Deep South: Scenic byways, travel in southern states, seasons, social life & customs, social conditions
• Home Town: Northhampton, Mass, small-town life, police, small towns
• Nickel & Dimed: Minimum wage, poor people, blue-collar workers, rent & renting, intersectionality, U.S. working poor
• Palaces for the People: Urban planning, infrastructure, community life, quality of life, social participation

 

 

About the Book:

Deep South: Author, Paul Theroux, travels to various Southern states where he focuses on smaller, rural towns and visits with people in churches, restaurants, corner stores, farms, and gun shows. (Novelist)

Home Town: Home Town explores what life is really like in contemporary small-town America, focusing on the people of Northampton, Mass, to assess how individuals in a community transform a place into a home. (Novelist)

Nickel & Dimed: Author Barbara Ehrenreich decides to see if she can scratch out a comfortable living in blue-collar America. What she discovers is a culture of desperation, where workers often take multiple low-paying jobs just to keep a roof overhead. (Novelist)

Palaces for the People: Klinenberg explains how the resilience of communities can be found not only in shared values but in such shared spaces as libraries, child-care centers, and gardens that enable life-transforming human connections. (Novelist)

 

 

 Request Kit Here

 

Further Your Discussion:

• Read:  A brief review of Kidder's Home Town by CBS News and, just for fun, A Nonfiction our of America: 50 Books for 50 States.

 

• Watch: Author, Paul Theroux, in conversation with Pico Iyer about his book Deep South:
  

 

• Listen: Erik Klinenberg discusses Palaces for the People in this podcast episode about social infrastructure.
  
  

 

• Read: This updated FAQ by Barbara Ehrenreich regarding Nickel & Dimed.  To consider, a thoughtful critique of the book.