There Is No Place for Us

Working and Homeless in America

By: Brian Goldstone

Narrated by: Dion Graham, Brian Goldstone

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE ATLANTIC’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • Through the “revelatory and gut-wrenching” (Associated Press) stories of five Atlanta families, this landmark work of journalism exposes a new and troubling trend—the dramatic rise of the working homeless in cities across America.

“An exceptional feat of reporting, full of an immediacy that calls to mind Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s Random Family and Matthew Desmond’s Evicted.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE BERNSTEIN AWARD • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Elle, New America, BookPage, Shelf Awareness

The working homeless. In a country where hard work and determination are supposed to lead to success, there is something scandalous about this phrase. But skyrocketing rents, low wages, and a lack of tenant rights have produced a startling phenomenon: People with full-time jobs cannot keep a roof over their head, especially in America’s booming cities, where rapid growth is leading to catastrophic displacement. These families are being forced into homelessness not by a failing economy but a thriving one.

In this gripping and deeply reported book, Brian Goldstone plunges readers into the lives of five Atlanta families struggling to remain housed in a gentrifying, increasingly unequal city. Maurice and Natalia make a fresh start in the country’s “Black Mecca” after being priced out of DC. Kara dreams of starting her own cleaning business while mopping floors at a public hospital. Britt scores a coveted housing voucher. Michelle is in school to become a social worker. Celeste toils at her warehouse job while undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer. Each of them aspires to provide a decent life for their children—and each of them, one by one, joins the ranks of the nation’s working homeless.

Through intimate, novelistic portraits, Goldstone reveals the human cost of this crisis, following parents and their kids as they go to sleep in cars, or in squalid extended-stay hotel rooms, and head out to their jobs and schools the next morning. These are the nation’s hidden homeless—omitted from official statistics, and proof that overflowing shelters and street encampments are only the most visible manifestation of a far more pervasive problem.

By turns heartbreaking and urgent, There Is No Place for Us illuminates the true magnitude, causes, and consequences of the new American homelessness—and shows that it won’t be solved until housing is treated as a fundamental human right.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of a list of families featured in the audiobook.

Timely in depth look at homelessness

This book is critically important to our present times. An in depth look at homelessness, its seemingly arbitrary but intentional definitions, its myriad ways of shapeshifting and impacting so many people. Strong investigative and reporting journalism.

Broken system

These stories made me realize just how broken and unjust our systems for caring for people in crisis really have become. I felt real compassion for the people living these tragedies. We must do better!

Invisible No More

There’s No Place for Us is one of the most difficult and essential listens I’ve experienced. This eye-opening and deeply human account of the “working homeless” in America shines a much-needed light on the realities of housing insecurity. Listening from Atlanta, where much of the story is grounded, made it especially personal and heartbreaking. It challenges assumptions, expands understanding, and underscores how close so many are to instability despite working multiple jobs. I highly everyone read/listen to this book —particularly community leaders, policymakers, and neighbors.

Profound gratitude to Brian Goldstone for his meticulous, compassionate research and the hundreds of voices he brought forward with such care. And a huge kudos to Dion Graham. His narration was nothing short of extraordinary. He gave life, depth, and dignity to every story, making each one resonate on a deeply human level. An unforgettable and necessary work.

Interesting Non-Fiction

Rent Controls are a terrible idea… just leads to higher rents, low construction, landlord neglect, condemned buildings, and more homelessness. Yes city’s are expensive. So move out… Landlords are evil, it’s the government’s fault that a single mother of 3 has trouble making ends meet… How in the world did this win a Pulitzer?

heartbreaking and eye opening

excellent read about gentrification in Atlanta. homelessness does not look like we think it always does.