Customer Reviews

House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City (River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michael Downs has done a wonderful job of weaving in his personal life with a story of hopes and dreams--some realized and some not. At times, his prose is poetic. The story of the virtual collapse of huge chunks of Hartford is a story that has played out in major cities across America. This story, extremely well-documented and reported, is uniquely and poignantly told.

An incredible fabric of stories -- about place, duty, love, east, west, race, and society. Downs masterfully brings it all together for this book about five inner-city kids from Hartford, and about his own struggle to find a place that really feels like home.

Makes a person think about education, urban planning and the cost of suberbia.

This book is a fascinating look at struggling cities and the people, especially youth, who call cities like this, home. The author kept me turning the pages. A work of non-fiction well worth reading. I've recommended it to my students - many who live in Hartford. You will not be disappointed.