Fucked at Birth, Dale Maharidge
Fucked at Birth, Dale Maharidge
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Fucked at Birth
Recalibrating the American Dream for the 2020s

Author: Dale Maharidge

Narrator: Kevin Stillwell

Unabridged: 4 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/01/2021

Synopsis

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dale Maharidge has spent his career documenting the downward spiral of the American working class, and his new book explores the limits of the American Dream in the 2020s. Poverty is both reality and destiny for increasing numbers of people in the 2020s and, as Maharidge discovers spray-painted inside an abandoned gas station in the California desert, it is a fate often handed down from birth. Motivated by this haunting phrase—“Fucked at Birth”—Maharidge explores the realities of being poor in America in the coming decade, as pandemic, economic crisis and social revolution up-end the country. Part raw memoir, part dogged, investigative journalism, Fucked At Birth channels the history of poverty in America to help inform the voices Maharidge encounters daily. In an unprecedented time of social activism amid economic crisis, when voices everywhere are rising up for change, Maharidge’s journey channels the spirits of George Orwell and James Agee, raising questions about class, privilege, and the very concept of “upward mobility,” while serving as a final call to action. From Sacramento to Denver, Youngstown to New York City, Fucked At Birth dares readers to see themselves in those suffering most, and to finally—after decades of refusal—recalibrate what we are going to do about it.

About Dale Maharidge

Dale Maharidge is the author of Pulitzer Prize-winning And Their Children After Them, and twelve other books. Among them is Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass, which inspired Bruce Springsteen to write the song "Youngstown." His most recent nonfiction book is Fucked at Birth, and his novel Burn Coast was published in 2022. He has written for the Nation, Smithsonian, Harper's Magazine, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, and others. He was a 1988 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and is a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Reviews

Goodreads review by TraceyL

Overall this book was really unfocussed. It didn't seem to have any direction or specific point it was trying to make. I feel like the title was chosen to grab people's attention (which worked on me) but doesn't really reflect the content. It's really just a look at how Covid has affected people aro......more

Goodreads review by Peter

I read this book at the same time as Jackpot by Michael Mechanic. Two books, concurrently, one about poverty and one about wealth. The review of Michael Mechanic's book is forthcoming but will certainly feature a mix of envy and revulsion. There's a vicarious thrill when you read about mansions and......more

Goodreads review by Nancy

As a fan of Dale Maharidge's prior work, his books are must-reads, as he truly captures the plight of the working class and poor in a straightforward manner. This shorter non-fiction book captures our nation in a moment of turmoil as it was written during the first months of the covid pandemic and h......more

Goodreads review by Liv

A book for every American. This is journalism, without the “objectivity.” Speaking as a reporter, I think Maharidge did a nice job of covering a handful of topics in a concise, yet thorough, way, while also humanizing these systemic issues. The book is a call to action, simply because it states the......more

Goodreads review by Noel نوال

Every American needs to read this book. In this highly important piece of investigative journalism Dale Maharidge dives deep into the unobtainable American dream. It was so heartbreaking to read the stories of a handful of Americans living homeless as internally displaced people (IDP/refugees) in th......more

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