How to Read This Book and How the Lives of Poor People Have Been Read, or, Why You?

Following the introduction’s account of the author’s life growing up poor, this chapter explores why ordinary middle-class readers might shy away from or lack interest in the lives of poor people. Covering the prevalence of middle-class people in academia and the paucity of poor people in universities, particularly elite ones, the book accounts for a general lack of care about poverty in academic settings, journalism, and media.