The Working Poor

David K. Shipler's The Working Poor is the most thorough and studious book about American poverty I've read (and I've read several, including a couple of Jonathan Kozol's books, plus Nickel and Dimed, and Random Family, among others. It's comprehensive, and divides chapters into specific issues. Shipler is pretty impartial, and the book doesn't really veer into politics much, which is refreshing in its way. He's pretty hard at times on teachers, and never adequately addresses the fact that many teachers aren't far from being "the working poor," themselves (I'm not being snotty here--teacher salaries in some places in the country can be criminally low). However, I'm the first to admit that there are a lot of crappy teachers out there, so maybe he has a point.

If you're interested in poverty issues, or like sociology reads (I clearly do), this is a really clear and interesting book that has the added bonus of being serious and well-researched. Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed is more personal and at times preachy, and Shipler's voice is removed enough to keep The Working Poor from suffering from preachiness.