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American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare
enlarge	Author: Jason Deparle Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Category: Book List Price: ~~$16.00~~ Buy Used: $1.89 You Save: $14.11 (88%) New (42) Used (40) from $1.89 Media: Paperback Number Of Items: 1 Pages: 432 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9 Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 ISBN: 0143034375 Dewey Decimal Number: 362.55680973 EAN: 9780143034377 ASIN: 0143034375 Publication Date: August 30, 2005 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Editorial Reviews: Amazon.com Review More than a decade after presidential candidate Bill Clinton floated the idea of ending "welfare as we know it," the changes to the system have become so accepted and entrenched that it is difficult to remember the heated controversy surrounding the issue of reform. Jason DeParle, a social policy reporter for IThe New York Times/I, forcefully brings the subject to life in IAmerican Dream/I, a moving and informed examination of the challenges, complexities, successes, and failures involved in fixing our nation's ailing welfare system. Tracing the lives of three women and their children as legislative changes are pushed through Washington and the state of Wisconsin, DeParle puts an extraordinarily human face on a subject that is too often prone to ideological oversimplification. As DeParle adeptly shows, their story "of adversity variously overcome, compounded, or merely endured ... embodies the story of welfare writ large."p The three compelling women at the heart of DeParle's narrative are vastly different temperamentally, yet they share the abstract qualities of strength and endurance, as well as extended family ties. DeParle paints their portraits with respect and sensitivity, and he provides a marvelous family history that reveals how "the story of welfare" is painfully "tangled in the story of race." Our glimpse at these difficult lives and the forces that profoundly shape them inspire an equal measure of hope and disappointment, and a large measure of outrage. As these remarkably resilient women struggle to raise their families, corruption is exposed in the very offices charged with implementing the newly adopted reforms. DeParle accepts that removing nine million women and children from the welfare rolls represents enormous progress. However, he simultaneously recognizes that we are dismally failing to confront a consequence of welfare reform: a new class of working poor. --ISilvana Tropea/I Product Description In this definitive work, two-time Pulitzer finalist Jason DeParle cuts between the mean streets of Milwaukee and the corridors of Washington to produce a masterpiece of literary journalism. At the heart of the story are three cousins whose different lives follow similar trajectories. Leaving welfare, Angie puts her heart in her work. Jewell bets on an imprisoned man. Opal guards a tragic secret that threatens her kids and her life. DeParle traces their family history back six generations to slavery and weaves poor people, politicians, reformers, and rogues into a spellbinding epic. P With a vivid sense of humanity, DeParle demonstrates that although we live in a country where anyone can make it, generation after generation some families dont. To read IAmerican Dream/I is to understand why.

Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews... great read October 15, 2008 this book is the type of book i am personally interested in. i had to choose a book for my human diversity class and write a ten page paper on it and this is the one i picked. i picked it because not only is there factual information in it about social welfare, but there is also a great story that fits in with the facts. the story is about a whole blood line of family members and their struggles with everyday life and how important welfare checks were to them. it goes over their problems and situations past and present as well as what the clinton administration was doing as far as welfare. its a good book to use if you can't seem to sit through a factual book with no story line to it without falling asleep.i would recommend it to anyone who is interested in social welfare or social work as a profession. three women ten kids book February 29, 2008 0 out of 2 found this review helpful The book above was suppose to arrive sooner than when I received it. Unfortunately I had to send it back as my wife could not wait for an extended period. Please credit my card back once you receive the item back. Thank you David Interesting look at social policy. September 7, 2007 I found this to be a page turner. The book is actual history that reads like fiction. There is a fair amount of repitition that bogged the story down a bit but I still recommend it. Must Read!! January 22, 2007 I have to read this book for my Social Welfare Policy class but I can't put it down! The writer is incredibly engaging even when talking about all the backstage drama surrounding the 1996 welfare bill, which I think is a huge accomplishment of and in itself. It is a great blend of legislative history making AND seeing the effects on the welfare recipients. An immensely moving, informative, entertaining book November 10, 2006 1 out of 1 found this review helpful I really loved this book. Its a very quick read and its also extremely informative. You will learn so much about what its like to live in poverty in the US. It also details the history of welfare in America, how it was changed, and where it stands now. The book is no liberal propaganda either. The NY Times reporter who wrote the book comes to some very surprising, often conservative-leaning conclusions. You will be amazed at what he found and often moved to tears by the stories of the three women. An absolutely essential read.

Copyright 2007 White Hat Communications.
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