The Underclass (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The life-skills class convenes on Tuesday and Friday mornings, and among the twenty-two students initially registered are people who have been murderers, muggers, stickup men,..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Howard Smith, Pearl Dawson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ken Auletta's The Underclass, first published in 1982, proposes to uncover who constitutes the poorest of Americans, and how they might best be aided by government and industry. While updated and revised to consider changes in both poverty and policy over the past 20 years, the book remains centered on Auletta's research of the late 1970s. Auletta, a staff writer at The New Yorker, focuses primarily on the very poor students attending basic skills classes through the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), a Manhattan-based antipoverty nonprofit that had been having good results helping members of the "underclass" become working members of society. For contrasting examples, he also briefly explores the extreme poverty of whites living in Appalachia and rural blacks in Mississippi. The problems he finds are complex, but not necessarily intractable. Positioning himself as neither a liberal or a conservative, Auletta calls himself "too optimistic to accept the laissez-faire theory, and too pessimistic to embrace wholesale government solutions." Instead, he encourages programs such as the MDRC, which use what he calls a "tough love" approach to helping the very poor. How many people constitute "the underclass"? What role does race play? Who is responsible for the problem of poverty in America? Readers who ask these questions will find answers, and much to debate, in this well-researched study. --Maria Dolan

From Library Journal

LJ's reviewer dubbed this 1982 volume, now out of print, "a moving narrative on the American `underclass'Athat 30 percent of the nation's poor who cannot readily enter the mainstream." In this updated edition, the author adds an analysis of the situation since the original publication. (LJ 5/1/82)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP; Rev Upd edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879519290
• ISBN-13: 978-0879519292
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,423,833 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Realistic, November 12, 2001

By	Christian H. Kim (California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Whenever there's president election, candidates don't talk about welfare policy much because simply it's not people's popular issue. Ken Auletta described the reality of underclass, more definted term for low class, and shows the reality through real examples. When there aren't that many books on welfare system, this one's good one to really find out about the reality. Reading's not difficult and very informative.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Memorable, May 23, 2008

By	Gunlover - See all my reviews

I first read this book back in 1986 as a political science undergraduate. Out of the hundreds of political books I've read, this is one of the most memorable.

Auletta approaches the subject of the urban poor in a completely objective and disinterested way, as a journalist should. He immerses himself in the lives and personal backgrounds of poor people and documents their journey through various federal job training programs. Auletta also discusses the arguments put forth by both advocates and opponents of such programs (like Michael Harrington and Thomas Sowell) and fairly examines both the strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the issue. Most importantly, he evaluates these viewpoints based upon the actual lives and experiences of those who participate in the training programs.

In a day when too many "journalists" use their platforms for editorializing, Auletta does his profession proud. He sticks to reporting the facts, and gives a balanced view of all sides of the issue.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Underclass, April 25, 2000

By	Marlene V Schreiber (Muncie, Indiana) - See all my reviews

Auletta provides a thorough and sensitive study of the underclass in one of the most depressed neighborhoods of New York City. The book focuses on personal accounts of a job-training program participates, with nationally significant statistics to reinforce the message. The discussion of attitudes and politics driving the country's perception of the poor is enlightening and will provide material for heated discussion for those who agonize over the problems faces by inner city neighborhoods. This book is a solid piece of research and well worth the read for anyone interested in urban issues, racism, welfare, and the idea of a perpetual and permanent class that can not assimilate to mainstream society.