This is the best book I read in 2017.

Before reading this, I had a vision in my head of the downward spiral of poverty. In my experience as a middle class employed renter in Los Angeles, I've pretty much gotten what I pay for. Prime location costs more. Amenities cost more. Size costs more. If I'm willing to forgo any of those things, I can get a cheaper apartment. One of the joys of renting vs buying is that I've been able to adjust how much I want to pay for rent every few years based on those factors.

So I envision a 2 income family that loses one job and the end result is that they have to move into a smaller place, possibly in a less desirable neighboorhood and finances get tighter.

What this book throws into stark relief is how that correlation between the cost of rent and all the factors I regularly think about breaks down. There will always be a lowest rent, but what you get for that rent can still vary by other factors. The more often you've been evicted, the more power the next landlord has over you. This can lead to progressively less desirable conditions.

That's a gross oversimplification. What makes this book shine is how it follows people on all sides of the eviction system. The reader starts with certain expectations of who the good and bad guys are, but ultimately almost everyone turns out to just be a person trying to make their way as best as they can within the system. Along the way, there's as much drama as you'd expect from Game of Thrones.

Highly recommended.