By Kim McDarison

The League of Women Voters Whitewater Area has announced that its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee will kick off its 2024 book club with a study of “Poverty, by America.”

The book is written by Pulitzer Prize winning author Matthew Desmond, who also has written a book titled: “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.”  

The book, according to information found on amazon.com, asks its reader to consider why the United States is “the richest country on earth,” yet, “has more poverty than any other advanced democracy.”

Additionally, the book suggests, that one in every eight American children go without basic necessities, and citizens “live and die on the streets.”

According to information supplied by the Whitewater league, “Desmond draws upon history, research and original reporting to argue that poverty in America persists because the rest of us benefit from it.”

The league encourages individuals to participate in its discussion to “investigate new ways of imagining solutions to a morally urgent problem and engage in how to usher in an age of shared prosperity.” 

Those interested in joining the club, or attending a meeting and participating in the discussion, are encouraged to visit the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, 431 W. Center St., Whitewater, where they will find copies of “Poverty, by America,” placed on reserve for the group’s use during study, the release states.

Book club discussions will be at the library Thursdays, Feb. 22, March 21, and April 18, between 6 and 8 p.m.

Several chapters of the book will be discussed during each meeting, including chapters 1-3 in February, 4-6 in March, and 7-9 in April.

A full description of the book from amazon.com is here: https://www.amazon.com/Poverty-America-MatthewDesmond/dp/0593239911/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=677029973165&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9018880&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13764976658299614&hvtargid=kwd-1999506426185&hydadcr=22164_13517519&keywords=book+poverty+by+america&qid=1704914416&sr=8-1.

About Desmond

According to the matthewdesmondbooks.com website, the author is a professor of sociology at Princeton University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010 and joined the Harvard Society of Fellows as a Junior Fellow. He is the author of four books, including “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” published in 2016, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. Desmond’s full bio, as presented by the website, is here: https://matthewdesmondbooks.com/.

About the league’s book club

According to the release, the League of Woman Voters Whitewater book club was formed to help the league’s members and friends engage in meaningful discussions about current, notable books, dealing with public policy issues of interest to the league. Book club participants are not required to be members of the league. For more information about the club, contact Deb Gamble by phone: 262-583-1946 or email: shebagam@gmail.com.   

About the league

According to the release, the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit its website: https://my.lwv.org/wisconsin/whitewater-area.