Book Review: Tightrope by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Wanted to start things off with a book review! This is one of the best books I have read all year, and I have recommended it to everyone and put it all over my social media accounts. It is a book that utilizes the authors personal background and story from living in rural Oregon, and uses personal anecdotes to weave together a compelling work that chronicles our current socioeconomic and political divide, and the vast disparities that exist in our society today.

The authors describe and explain the recent and well described phenomenon regarding the increase in mortality rates in the past few years among middle aged poor/working class whites, largely due to the "deaths of despair" - drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicide. They put a compelling spin on this topic by weaving in personal anecdotes regarding people Mr. Kristof grew up with and how their individual stories reflect the larger problem at hand. This is done in a very effective and interesting manner.

The titular tightrope is described from a passage seen early in the book: "...Life's journey for affluent, well-educated American families is like a stroll among a wide, smooth path, forgiving of missteps. But increasingly, for those from lower on the socioeconomic spectrum, life resembles a tightrope walk. Some make it across, but for so many, one stumble and that's it. What's more, a tumble from the tightrope frequently destroys not only that individual but the entire family, including children, and through them, grandchildren. The casualties are everywhere in America, if we care to notice."

Mr. Kristof and Ms. WuDunn do a great job of describing how large swaths of our country have been left behind, and how that resentment can lead to the situation in which we find ourselves in today. While focusing mostly on poverty in the rural white community, this book does a fantastic job of comparing the current plight of the poor and working class white population to the poverty and discrimination and exclusion of the black community in our country, along with other marginalized and oppressed groups. As quoted on page 185: "It turns out when communities of any race lose jobs and self-esteem, people are more likely to soothe themselves with narcotics, drift into crime, and suffer family breakdown."

I also enjoyed this book as the authors do call out the respective hypocrisies of both the "typical" conservative and liberal reader. To conservatives, it calls out the issues with focusing solely on "personal responsibility," and how many of us are put behind the eight ball due to no fault of our own. To more liberal readers, it calls out the hypocrisies of being against poverty and discrimination, but fighting against affordable housing and seeking to live in suburban and urban enclaves and place their children into the best school districts in order to get into the best colleges, etc. - all measures that effectively reinforce socioeconomic disparities. They also describe how the focus of the liberal on circumstance and social constructs - while accurate, can rob the individual of agency. In contrast, the conservative draws too much meaning on individual choice and avoids the larger constructs of society such as racism, classism, etc., on the individual person 

 While I appreciate a descriptive book on its own, the authors also do a great job of detailing people who are working to address the issues in our country, as well as ways to get involved in fighting socioeconomic disparities. In this manner, they provide optimism, and avoid fatalism. For example - they mention City Year and Americorps as ways to restore a sense of public service and provide an "exit ramp" for young folks in need of direction. As a city year grad, I appreciated this shout out. 

In conclusion, this is one of the finest books I have read all year. I originally bought it on Kindle but bought a hardback copy such that I could share it with others and have it on my bookshelf. I think that the socioeconomic divide described in this book is a pressing issue, but what I think is the even more pressing issue is the lack of interface between groups - between rich, middle class and poor; black, white and brown; college educated and non-college educated, etc. There is a loss of collective identity and community, and lack of understanding our fellow man's plight leads to ignorance, and ignorance leads to disparities. I believe that Tightrope is a window into the modern plight of a large portion of our population, and a plea for empathy and change before things continue down this path. I recommend it for anyone interested in sociology, public health, politics, or a well told story.