Tightrope

Americans Reaching for Hope

By: Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

Narrated by: Jennifer Garner, Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Critic reviews

“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.

One of the best books I've read. Beautifully done.

Evidence based, grounded in the data, all in a story-driven format that treats the people who opened up their lives with honesty, dignity, and respect. If everyone read this book, we'd have a shared understanding of the intergenerational tightrope walked by our fellow Americans. This shared understanding is the first step to conversations on what to do about this situation long term -- something that the authors helpfully summarize after exploring these solutions within the book in the brief appendix titled 10 Steps You Can Take in the Next Ten Minutes. The book goes into all the reasons, stories, and details that roll up to this part and it left me with more compassion, gratitude, and desire to help in a way I know will make an actual impact and meaningful difference after reading the personal stories in this book from my fellow Americans. Enjoy leveling up your mindset and impact.

It is Nicholas Kristof so you won't be happy

How the other half lives. Our failure to see that the blessings of liberty protect the lives of kids whose parents got blindsided. Kids are falling through the cracks. No that's not it exactly. It is more like we ignored what Jonathan Kozol said and hoped that a rising tide would lift all boats. Life does not work like that. Capitalism at least does not work like that. It can still be hesrt breaking. Read it and weep.

A must read!

Heart wrenching, eye opening, shocking and humbling.

While non fiction, this reads like an engaging novel.