"Collecting dozens of interviews conducted over 50 years to give voice to the 16 percent that live below the poverty line, journalist Kenan Heise ... addresses unemployment, prison, nutrition needs and hunger, the lives of impoverished children, panhandling, health-care struggles, the role of race in poverty, and Dumpster diving"--P. [4] of cover.

This stirring work takes readers on a heartbreaking, illuminating, and inspiring journey into the homes and lives of the 16 percent who live below the poverty threshold. Author and retired Chicago Tribune reporter Kenan Heise culls 50 years of his published interviews with the poor and destitute to allow them to tell their own stories in their own voices to provide a sobering call to action. With full discussions on a myriad of topics—including the history of poverty, the use of drugs and alcohol among the poor, the lasting result of Reaganomics, the importance of minimum wage, and the relationship between the media and the poor—The Book of the Poor provides clear and concrete steps that can be taken to end poverty in America.