Poor People: Understanding Voices of Dignity, Resilience, and the Causes of Impoverishment

There are a lot of people that don't like to read Vollman, insisting that his focus on the seedier sides of life color his observations in a way that makes them unaccessible to average readers. His tendency to write long books keeps another group on the bench.For those that are willing to work a little and not expect to be entertained Vollman is something completely different, we see him as this generations Joyce, Dickens or Melville.Poor People shines a harsh light on another area that makes regular folks uncomfortable, and let's the people tell their story. Not in straight prose as we wish they could, but in the mutterings and actions that is all that their deprived lives provided them to work with, depriving the critics in tunr of the plots and meanings that are usually spelled out for them by the mainstream authors.Once again as in Whores for Gloria, Rising Up and Rising Down, Europe Central and Royal Family that preceded Poor People, I find myself thinking of the nuances and implications of this book and the hard answers that Vollman refused to supply like another Chopra or Thomas L. Friedman sermon on how we should feel and what a great future we have if we don't look into the rough spots that aren't so clean and orderly.Vollman's writing is like a bad accident in some ways, you feel guilty if you look and as if your missing something if you don't. In this case you are missing something if you don't look, one of the most important writers and thinkers of our times.

I am almost finished reading this book. Personally, while I do understand some of the reviewers' criticisms of it, I am enjoying it. One problem some people seem to have is that he does not offer solutions or even opinions in many cases, and that he has this outsider's perspective and then on top of that is paying people, so in turn he is getting what he wants in a way. And while I understand those criticisms, I am OK with all of it because he is exceedingly conscious of those very facts, and acknowledges them constantly. The book is not intended to offer solutions for poverty, and it is not a judgment of the people he interviews nor of those of us who are not poor (i.e., most of the readers). It is just an examination with plenty of introspection, and I find it quite fascinating. I enjoy his writing style and while yes, he does sometimes go off on tangents, I find his stream of consciousness quite interesting at many points. I think he accomplishes what he sets out to do, and I appreciate the narrative's honesty.

A fascinating and well organized study of poverty. Though it was evident that the book was the result of an immense amount of research, the author does not describe the process of analysis through which he reached his conclusions. This, however, does not diminish the overall value of the book. I was drawn in, nearly from beginning to end. The value lies in providing a conception of poverty across cultures that is more about lived experiences than cold numbers. The book drags on a bit at the end; the first 2/3 is really where the interesting nuggets can be found. But I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone seeking to understand poverty.

An epic journey into how poor people, meaning, people who perceive themselves as poor, see themselves and their world. It spans continents and cultures, but ends in the homeless encampment in the parking lot of the author's apartment. People whose voices are seldom heard in books. These accounts get pretty raw, and can be hard to read about these things.This is not your standard oral history. Much of the book is devoted to Vollman wrestling with what it means to be poor and what it means for him not to be poor. His ruminations are insightful and radically humanist.Very worth reading.

The book leads you a journey through the eyes of poor people through the eyes of a journalist all over the world to see how and why people are poor. I found the book very stimulating and interesting perspective of how someone else sees poor people.

Great book! Shines light on a subject we all need to address.

This work is timeless although it's really a snapshot in time of the author's. I could recommend it to 'straights' or other clueless middle class peeps like myself. I think it could be useful for social workers, psychologists, parole officers, 'screws', 'hacks', police, federal investigators, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists and anyone else who deals with poor people for a living.

A painful book to read, yet vollmann humanized those who are suffering from extreme poverty. His methodology is compassionate and as unbiased as a concerned human being can be.Heart wrenching, informative, a challenge to seek solutions.

Título imprescindible para que sintamos lo desgarrador de la pobreza en testimonios de primera mano.

Very good book. Puts things in perspective and makes us realise how ungrateful we can be and how many things we take for granted!

Beautifully written and a compulsory reading on people living on a one-cent dream.