UM Common Reading Experience 2019: Evicted

Resource guide for the UM Common Read, Evicted, by Matthew Desmond

“An exhaustively researched, vividly realized and above all, unignorable book—after Evicted, it will no longer be possible to have a serious discussion about poverty without having a serious discussion about housing.”
—Jennifer Senior,  New York Times

Library Databases

Use these databases to search for articles on themes from the book. Keyword suggestions:

  • Cycle of Poverty
  • Mortgage Interest Deduction
  • Racism and Eviction
  • Housing Discrimination
  • Public Housing
  • Landlord Tenant Laws
  • Redlining
  • (Drug Addiction or Opiate Epidemic) and Housing

CQ Researcher Reports

Award-winning reports from CQ Researcher, providing in-depth coverage on today's issues.

Resources Listed in Evicted

In the final chapter of Evicted, "About this Project," Matthew Desmond discusses the methods he used to collect the stories, information, and data used to write the book. In addition to his extensive fieldwork, he also designed and administered several surveys in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Survey Center and made the data available to the public.

Local Resources

Government Sources

Housing & Urban Development
Historical Information on Fair Housing