"Left Out in America" is a powerful look at what it means to be homeless in the United States. In her first, highly anticipated book, accomplished broadcaster and journalist, Pat LaMarche has documented a piece of American life like no one else has. Having slept in 14 homeless shelters throughout the country over a two week period, and recording her experiences in a journal, LaMarche has captured the condition of this current humanitarian crisis and brought it sharply into focus.
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About the Author
Pat LaMarche is an educator, journalist and broadcaster who has successfully managed business and charitable organizations and is well known for her innovative approach to public service. Pat has written and broadcast from locales around the world. Pat has leveraged her popularity as radio personality Genny Judge to help provide food, heating oil and medical treatment for many of her fellow Mainers, as well as support for the Maine National Guard and September 11 relief crews. In 1998, Pat ran for Governor of Maine and in 2004 she was honored to serve as the Green Party s Vice Presidential candidate. A graduate of Bangor s John Baptist High School and Boston College, Pat also pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Amsterdam.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Will Never Forget This Book,
By
This review is from: Left Out in America: The State of Homelessness in the United States (Paperback)
How many times have you seen a homeless person sleeping on a park bench or shivering in the cold on a windy night and asked yourself why they just don't go to the local homeless shelter?
The answer to that question and many more is found in this concise and powerful book, "Left Out in America: The State of Homelessness in the United States" by broadcaster and journalist Pat LaMarche. The vignettes found in these 37 short chapters are so arresting that you will read it in one sitting. And then read it again. The pictures of life on the edge that LaMarche paints with her words will stay in your mind forever - and compel you to act. LaMarche combines the first person reporting skills of a Barbara Ehrenreich with the power of our best short story writers. After years of researching, writing, and volunteering in homeless shelters as an outgrowth of her concern for children and the poor, she decided to go on a 14-day trip to 14 homeless shelters across America. With the precision of a haiku, each shelter and its residents is brought to life. Without undue sentimentality or harsh moralism, she relates the stories of domestic violence, health crises, and unfortunate decisions that have brought so many of our neighbors to the brink. You will never forget the 4-year-old who drew life-like pictures of her mommy, baby sister and herself, and then, in a child's recognition of the futility of her existence in a shelter, crossed out the faces of each person. Or the elderly woman who lashed out at anyone who tried to help her make her bed, her teeth bared at those trying to help but not understanding how her dignity and self-image were represented by the folded sheets on her rickety cot. LaMarche ends her book with a reminder from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" that is well worth repeating, especially now that so many of us are maxed out on our credit cards and one medical catastrophe away from being on the streets ourselves. When Scrooge sees the Ghost of Christmas Present with two hideous children, Want and Ignorance, hiding under his robes, he asks, "Spirit, are they your children?" "'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down upon them. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.'" Thanks Pat LaMarche, for ending our ignorance about this important issue.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Walking the Walk,
This review is from: Left Out in America: The State of Homelessness in the United States (Paperback)
I can only say that this book should be on the New York Times Bestseller list. In plain but articulate speech, the author takes us into the underworld of the working poor and dispossessed. It inspires me with anger toward those who want the system to stay at the status quo. As William Blake, the prophetic English poet wrote, (and I paraphrase) "You can't make someone rich without making someone poor." This is a nation that on the surface tortures people for no apparent reason. But the reason is simple: They must instill in every citizen a nameless fear (such as "terrorism") to keep the hammer of power. Ms. LaMarche's book is an indictment, and we must pay attention to that before all of our freedoms disappear into the dark abyss of a nightmarish existence in the land of the "free."
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book will open your eyes...,
By
This review is from: Left Out in America: The State of Homelessness in the United States (Paperback)
...and make you weep...and make you wonder. The United States of America is the most powerful nation in the world. Yet we are unable to resolve the growing problem of homelessness in our own land.
Pat LaMarche tells the stories of many homeless Americans during her 14-day journey through homeless shelters around the country. The stories of these unfortunate souls are different yet there are themes that seem to appear throughout the miles. Many of these people have jobs but still cannot afford rent. Some are running from abuse. All of them are trying to make the best they can of a desperate situation. I was angered by the fact that children had to walk to their old bus stops to create the illusion that nothing was wrong, lest they be teased and/or beaten by the other students. All of these folks try to maintain a sense of normalcy in a completely abnormal situation. I applaud Pat for undertaking this sojourn. For unlike most people running for office, she did it to call attention to the homeless situation in America as opposed to drawing attention to herself or her party. I do not believe that Pat wants to be vice president, or governor, or senator. No, I believe that she wants to serve the public at the highest level at which she can affect change. Whether it be as an elected official, an author, a speaker or a server on a foodline at the local homeless shelter. This book is a public service. It serves to open the eyes of the fortunate to the plight of the less than fortunate. Let's hope it moves them to action...from the shelters in the streets all the way up to Pennsylvania Avenue.
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