Pulitzer Prize General Non Fiction Winner

Evicted

by Matthew Desmond

Summary

An ethnographic study of eight families in Milwaukee navigating the hidden machinery of eviction, from trailer parks to inner-city rooming houses. Desmond embedded himself in their neighborhoods for more than a year and paired the resulting narratives with original quantitative research on housing instability. He argues that eviction is not merely a symptom of poverty but one of its most powerful engines, reshaping debates about housing policy in the United States.

Historical Context & Significance

Desmond lived in a trailer park and a rooming house to gather data; his book proved that eviction is a cause, not just a result, of poverty.