Nomadland is a well-researched, carefully-crafted book.    Jessica Bruder practiced immersive journalism, following nomads over a three-year period.   Her deep observations are combined with a shrewd analysis of a current-day phenomenon – a class of people who live in their vans, RVs, or vehicles for economic reasons, a single investment in “wheel estate.”   Many are nomadic, traveling to seasonal work, then overwintering where it is not too cold, mostly in the southwest.

The author follows a few people over time, but returns to write about Linda May in her “Squeeze Inn.”    She follows Linda and her friends as they take on seasoanl jobs, as campground hosts, Amazon warehouse work, and in the service industry over the winter.   We can think of many of these nomads as “economic refugees,” casualties of work modernization, a health care system that overwhelm one’s ability to pay, rising home costs, and misfortune.    With a minimal US social safety net, a sector of the population is forced into a state of state of low-income houselessness.   These people are invisible to us, but the numbers are growing.

This work is haunting, engaging, and relevant.    It is clear that Jessica Bruder clearly cares deeply about the story.    A tour de force…

My Rating:

4.9 out of 5.0 stars4.9