Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America
An online book discussion in three sessions:
Wednesdays 6/17, 7/1 and 7/22 — Noon to 1:15 pm
Join us for a summer discussion of the national bestseller, Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America by Chris Arnade.
With stark photo essays and unforgettable true stories, Chris Arnade cuts through “expert” pontification on inequality, addiction, and poverty to allow those who have been left behind to define themselves on their own terms.
After abandoning his Wall Street career, Chris Arnade decided to document poverty and addiction in the Bronx. He began interviewing, photographing, and becoming close friends with homeless addicts, and spent hours in drug dens and McDonald’s. Then he started driving across America to see how the rest of the country compared. He found the same types of stories everywhere, across lines of race, ethnicity, religion, and geography.
The people he got to know, from Alabama and California to Maine and Nevada, gave Arnade a new respect for the dignity and resilience of what he calls America’s Back Row–those who lack the credentials and advantages of the so-called meritocratic upper class.
This book is currently available at ThriftBooks.com. Used hardcover copies in good or very good condition are as low as $5.29; new copies are also available.
Please contact Jim Grunow by email (jamesggrunow@gmail.com), phone or text (208-571-6309) to join the group and receive a Zoom invitation.