Poverty Short

In this Very Short Introduction, Philip N. Jefferson explores how the answers to these questions lie in the social, political, economic, educational, and technological processes that impact all of us throughout our lives. The degree of vulnerability is all that differentiates us. He shows how a person's level of vulnerability to adverse changes in their life is very much dependent on the circumstances of their birth, including where their family lived, whether it was peacetime or wartime, whether they had access to clean water, and whether they are male or female.

Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few listeners will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord.

In the underground tunnels below Grand Central Terminal, Lee Stringer - homeless and drug-addicted for 11 years - found a pencil to run through his crack pipe. One day he used it to write. Soon writing became a habit that won out over drugs, and before long Stringer had created one of the most powerful urban memoirs of our time. With humane wisdom and a biting wit, Stringer chronicles the unraveling of his seemingly secure existence as a marketing executive and his odyssey of survival on the streets of New York.

Three-year-old boy loses hands in an accident and grows up to be renowned spinal surgeon! Man born without arms and legs perseveres to become internationally known motivational speaker, husband and father of four children! True unbelievable stories of courage. Have you ever faced some obstacle you thought you couldn’t overcome? Or spent time feeling sorry for yourself? If so, then this is the book for you! Facing Adversity-Stories of Courage and Inspiration is a collection of true stories, collected by best-selling author, Dr. Jeffrey L. Gurian, about people who have had to face ...

On an average day in America, seven young people aged 19 or under will be shot dead. In Another Day in the Death of America, award-winning Guardian journalist Gary Younge tells the stories of the lives lost during the course of a single day in the United States. It could have been any day, but Younge has chosen November 23, 2013. Far from a dry account of gun policy in the United States or a polemic about the dangers of gun violence, the book is a gripping chronicle of an ordinary but deadly day in American life.

O. Henry wove several stories together into this highly episodic narrative, taking his title and inspiration from Lewis Carroll's ballad of the walrus and the carpenter in Through the Looking-Glass. The stories are set in the fictional country of Anchuria in Central America, a banana republic where larceny is rampant and revolution lurking in every impoverished back alley. O. Henry offers a cutting satire of contemporary politics and prejudices.

Celebrated author Jim Harrison, whose robust, tender, and deeply felt books have made their mark on the American literary landscape, here delivers a collection of three novellas infused with all the wisdom and generous spirit that his readers have come to expect.

Do you like a corn dog? This book is about my childhood memories.

Embarrassed to realize that he has become a boring old pest, retired Canadian attorney Donald Dillenbeck decides to discard his cheapskate ways, leave his home town and squander his millions in the USA by indulging in a lavish upscale life. The old boy will soon learn that life-long habits of thrift are tough to break. Don will also discover first-hand that America has become a very dangerous place to travel. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Durward Garbage is a pen name used by Canadian author and retired lawyer Donald W. Desaulniers to publish some of his shorter novels. Always a proponent of quantity ...

Ivor Dennidge had chosen his way of life and planned to stick to it. He had found a perfect work/benefits balance which allowed him to live as he saw fit and avoid the slavery of full-time work. He had everything he needed to enjoy life and an abundance of what he valued most; spare time. This is the story of a day which began in much the same way as the previous 2,878 days of Ivor Dennidge’s post-rat-race existence. A short story of about 9000 words from the author of ‘Northern Dole’.

Through 23 connected short stories, the author looks into the lives of the inhabitants of a small town in the American heartland. In a simple and intense style, these psychological portraits of the sensitive and imaginative of Winesburg's population are seen through the eyes of a young reporter-narrator, George Willard. Their stories are about loneliness and alienation, passion and virginity, wealth and poverty, thrift and profligacy, carelessness and abandon.

Best-selling author Robert Cormier's suspenseful and masterfully told novel takes bold steps into some of the most difficult topical territory ever conceived for young adult fiction.

"A woman named Lola Montez was born in Ireland in 1821. She moved to Paris, France in the 1840s; she wanted to be a dancer, but it didn’t work out. So she addressed a man named Alexandre Dujarrier, who owned the newspaper company with the highest circulation then."

Dive heart-first into the intoxicating, ethereal streets of New Orleans with "67 Days of NOLA Poetic Exploration Between Here And There". We welcome you to Week 6 - a curated exploration titled "The Experimental Certainty of Exploration Through Social Distance." Navigate through a meticulously crafted journey that melds poetic inquiry with the rhythmic heartbeats of a city rich in layered tales and spirited melodies. Explore "The Dance of Dualities" as you traverse the path between the seen and the unseen, the spoken and the silent, the tangible and the ephemeral. Engage in an intimate ...

A promising illustrator moves into adulthood contemplating all that he’s had to do for money - from the mundane to the grueling to the sexual. He also reflects on everything that has slipped away, including a boyfriend, close acquaintances, success, and allure. But sketch by sketch, he sometimes feels the enormity of all that is possible.

Have you ever wondered how much that guy with the cardboard sign makes? One economics student did and he decided to find out. During the summer of his senior year at college, while earning a B.A. in Economics and Political Science, David P. Spears spent 80 hours undercover as a panhandler. Systematically recording every transaction at the exit ramp, Spears captured a rarely seen picture of how modern urban charity works.

A holiday classic by Charles Dickens. Originally published in 1843, Dickens worried about the disparity between the wealthy and the impoverished, and it was his attempt to bring this disparity into the light of day, to appeal to the die-hard capitalists to take care of the downtrodden masses. Since this inequity continues, this story is still popular, and will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

A common theme runs though this otherwise very varied bouquet of short stories: a sympathy for the victim. Contemporary crime, science fiction, fantasy, historical adventure, all of them can be found here. A kaleidoscope of villains and heroes follow each other, waiting to entertain you. Mrs Jones leads her Takamaka Freedom Fighters to rescue thousands of prisoners from the ‘Happy Hen Poultry Farm’; an artist trapped in a twisted body finds a unique revenge when the beautiful blonde treats him with scorn; and Cynthia saves the Earth from invasion by an organism that wants to give ...

When you believe a better life waits for you beyond death, the perfect place to die is a difficult thing to find. Content warning: this story contains self-harm and disordered eating. "Ghost Bread" is one of 9 short horror stories in Nightfire's audio anthology. Come Join Us by the Fire S2...