Detroit: An American Autopsy

LeDuff delivers on the shocking goings-on of Detroit from the super-corrupt mayor to a super-corrupt judge to firemen who have to buy their own toilet paper because budgets are so mismanaged (ie, money pocketed by officials). Wish it was a tad more hopeful at the end, but it is what it is.

Narrator was good - think this is my first listen with him. But it would've been nice if some research had been done first to pronounce Detroit words correctly. Kil-PA-trick instead of KILL-patrick (who says that?). Mak-in-ack instead of Mack-in-aw Island. And the like.

Overall, quite good and mesmerizing.

It is a great story of how a major American city has deteriorated and is circling the drain. Much of what happened in Detroit is happening in other American cities and it paints a dim view of the future of our country.

Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price by Jonathan Cohn.<br/><br/>More stories of the little guy who is disposable in the eyes of corporate America.

His narration flows well and keeps the listener engaged.

I would have but I enjoyed it so much that I rationed it listening only an hour a day so that I could think about what was being related and how much it paints the same picture for much of America.

Our country is circling the drain. The 1 percent don't care as long as the craziness doesn't impact them. Big money runs the country and looks after itself. This is the story of the bottom five percent and it bodes ill for the future of the US. People should read or listen to this book then think about where we are as a country and where we are going.

Detroit takes several story lines and weaves them together to give the reader a broad, but depressing, view of the largest bankrupt city in the world. The book revolves around Charles LeDuff's family experiences in the city, with a healthy dose of stories mixed in from his days as a Detroit newspaper journalist. It definitely held my interest, the power, corruption, death, and inability of Detroiters to quit swirling the drain by backing the same policies over and over definitely makes for a gripping story. It tends to blend together sometimes, and you have to pay attention to the plot line carefully, but Detroit's an interesting read none the less.

I bought this book because I wanted to get a history of Detroit and I got so much more. I was born and raised on the East Side and Charlie gives a voice to the struggle of the city. I can feel Detroit in the way he writes, and it helps me better understand where I came from, how the city molded me. He gives words to what so many people feel. This is an amazing audible title. I'll listen to this one again. Thanks Charlie!

Monica Conyers

He brings a voice to the book that puts you right in the story.

"This is America bro, there's no such thing as spare change..."

A wringing account of the demise of Detroit. Almost mind-numbing in its dark detail, but impossible to put down. Not for those with delicate ears. Heavy with the actual profanity of modern-day Detroit.

I am from the suburbs of Detroit and it was easy to picture all of the places Charlie takes you. Learned things about area (good & bad) I didn't know. Also interesting stories of some of the local politics - people should be ashamed of themselves! Charlie is a great character and the reader did a good job in capturing that personality

A brutal look at the decaying city of Detroit brought low by unabated greed, corruption, and a world that has left it behind. The tragic stories of those trying to keep a shred of humanness as they struggle a lonely existence through a dystopian city is told by the author in a very in your face gloomy manor that tries to use Detroit demise as a wake up call for the rest of us.

LeDuff's narrative of the Motor City squalor is gritty and authentic. The city IS a mess and he pulls no punches. He weaves the city's story with his family's history and demons artfully, albeit with blue collar language and coarseness that makes the book unsuitable for younger readers.

Honestly, I bought this book because it was on the $5 book list and I thought that it might be nice to learn more about what has happened to Detroit. I never thought the book would turn out to be this good. It is a true story that reads like a novel. It is really powerful and it made me think a lot about where the rest of America was heading. It is gruesome in parts and sometimes I forgot that this book is a true story - you really don't want to believe that these kinds of things are not fiction. I highly recommend it.

I enjoyed listening to this book, but I think it was more about Charles LeDuff and his family, than the city of Detroit.