Tightrope

Americans Reaching for Hope

De: Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

Narrado por: Jennifer Garner, Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of the acclaimed, best-selling Half the Sky now issue a plea - deeply personal and told through the lives of real Americans - to address the crisis in working-class America, while focusing on solutions to mend a half-century of governmental failure.

With stark poignancy and political dispassion, Tightrope draws us deep into an "other America". The authors tell this story, in part, through the lives of some of the children with whom Kristof grew up in rural Yamhill, Oregon, an area that prospered for much of the 20th century but has been devastated in the last few decades as blue-collar jobs disappeared. About one-quarter of the children on Kristof's old school bus died in adulthood from drugs, alcohol, suicide, or reckless accidents. And while these particular stories unfolded in one corner of the country, they are representative of many places the authors write about, ranging from the Dakotas and Oklahoma to New York and Virginia.

But here, too, are stories about resurgence, among them: Annette Dove, who has devoted her life to helping the teenagers of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, as they navigate the chaotic reality of growing up poor; Daniel McDowell, of Baltimore, whose tale of opioid addiction and recovery suggests that there are viable ways to solve our nation's drug epidemic. Taken together, these accounts provide a picture of working-class families needlessly but profoundly damaged as a result of decades of policy mistakes. With their superb, nuanced reportage, Kristof and WuDunn have given us a book that is both riveting and impossible to ignore.

©2020 Nicholas D. Kristof (P)2020 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A deft and uniquely credible exploration of rural America, and of other left-behind pockets of our country. One of the most important books I've read on the state of our disunion.” (Tara Westover, author of Educated)

“This is a must-read that will shake you to your core. It’s a Dante-esque tour of a forgotten America, told partly through the kids who rode on Kristof’s old school bus in rural Oregon. A quarter are now dead, and others are homeless, in prison or struggling with drugs. They made bad choices, but so did America, in ways that hold back our entire country. Tightrope shows how we can and must do better.” (Katie Couric)

“With compassion and empathy, [the authors] pull readers into the lives of families who have been in a downward spiral for several generations. . . . They bring a human face to issues such as drug addiction, incarceration, family dysfunction, and declining prospects for employment. Enlightening for all concerned Americans.” (Caren Nichter, Library Journal, starred review)

Comprehensive look on poverty in the US

I really got into this book. Jennifer Garner did a great job as a narrator and you could tell the author was very passionate about the topic. From what I understand, the families in the story are families he knew from his hometown so that added to his connection to the topic I think. This book focuses a lot on economics, which I coincidentally happen to be taking a macroeconomics course in college at the time of listening so it really tied the concepts together for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in social welfare.

A great companion to many of his op-ed pieces

When you read about these people you want to believe that their lives are the result of just poor choices and Kristoff does acknowledge that many of his friends ended up as they did due to choices. But he also explains that choices are only one reason for the sad lives of his Yamhill friends and it's a good study what has gone wrong with American society over the years. Admittedly it's a depressing read but also an important one to understand history and current events.

Tightrope

This will be a Kristof/WuDunn semester for me and my college students. Studying national and international conditions for marginalized communities, this book, along with Half the sky and A path, appears will give students an understanding of some of the challenging topics confronting people suffering from social and occupational injustice, changing social conditions, inhumanity, and humanity. It is my hope that students’ eyes will be open to these issues and work enact positive social change.

Poverty in America

I like the the generational point of view of poverty and simple ideas on how Americans can fixed or reduce poverty.

AMAZING

A must read! Everything that is holding is back is FIXABLE! Unless we start to address the issues that most people are making their money off of we will ALL fail! We are ALL a part of the problem.....but we can ALL fix the problems as well.... we ALL need to give a shit! We can’t do it alone!

Excellent solutions for the real issues we face,

Excellent description of and solutions needed to help the vulnerable among us, without the usual partisan attack rhetoric.

A much needed hopeful story!

Possibly the most important book of our time! Well written, informative, and finally a spark of hope in a troubled world.

Outstanding!

Every state and national legislator needs to read this book. It is time for us to focus on what really matters - our human capital - if the United States wants to regain the leadership position it pretends to hold.

Wow!

When it comes to growing up in poverty, I feel like I won the parental lottery too! This book was validating, informative, thought provoking, clearly communicated on all accounts, respects the power of statistics & shares them responsibly. Also, I did not have much exposure to politics growing up & have been kind of lost in understanding the effects of policy & why/how/when I should care -- this book helped me understand those things. Also, I love that the problems presented come with a very practical list of things we can do to be a part of the solution!

Sad But So Real

My 70 year old mom died in Albany Oregon from a Drug overdose. She had been an addict when I was a child, she left my life when I was 10, got her life together when i was in my 20s and kept it at bay until a doctor began prescribing her opioids for chronic pain from a long term career as a long haul truck driver. the last 5 years of her life undermined all of the progress she had made and it was devastating. This book made me realize she couldn't really help herself and much of that revolved around the fact that there was no real avenue to treatment since she owned a home and two cars. She had moved on to dealing drugs and her friends were felons and homeless drug dealers. She squandered all her savings and neglected my step dad in his last years....dreadful...this book helped me understand her better. Thank You