When General Motors closed their plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, an entire town – its infrastructure and the lives of its inhabitants – was upended. Janesville is not alone in experiencing the vacuum a factory closing can have on the livelihood of a community, but Janesville had gone through this before and recovered, so why should now be any different? In Janesville, Goldstein paints a picture of middle-class America and the steps taken to bring a town back to its feet.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a lot about blue-collar communities or about the impact the 2008 recession had on them, but after reading this book I have a much better understanding. From Goldestein’s account, you get a wholisitic view of the Janesville community, following the story of several residents as they try different paths toward a better future. It’s an in-depth look at factory communities, unions, and generational-loyalty that I have never seen before.
This is not a sugar-coated story of American industrialism, nor does it end wrapped up in bows of prosperity. Rather, it shows the grit of the Janesville residents, their resilience in supporting each other, and a thoughtful critique on how some steps were beneficial and how some weren’t, painting a raw, personal, and introspective account of a town that lost the industry at its heart but kept moving to survive.
2% Rating: 7.5/10
Recommend? Yes
Re-Read? Maybe, but not likely
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