Dan Cox

I really loved this long-term look at Janesville, WI as the GM plant closes and it's ripple effects through the community. Following the community from 2008-2013, with more recent 2016 updates in the epilogue, we see how people and families try to adjust, reinvent and reeducate themselves. There's some criticism that the book glosses over too many issues: the systemic racism of blue collar towns, the Republican pivot from jobs to budgets and there was no mention of the opioid epidemic, which I'm sure was raging in the community at the same time as the Goldstein's reporting. Spending too much time on these issues, though, would have been too much for this very relatable and readable book.

900+ pages and worth every word.