I am aware that most people aren't going to be jonesing to read this book, but I have been to Janesville, Wisconsin, several times and there are people there that I like. Therefore, for me, it was an easy pick. Janesville was the home of one of the General Motors auto plants that closed in 2008. Thousands of workers were laid off. This book is their story.
There is another reason this tale of economic hardship and disruption resonated with me: in 2009, in the middle of the Great American Recession, I lost my full time job in West Marin. I knew the economy was in bad shape but I had never worried about finding a job, I interviewed well, had a good resume, was multi-talented, and on and on. But, like so many in Janesville and all over America, there were no jobs to be had. People with skills that far surpassed mine were also out of work, vying for the same jobs at Whole Foods and Macy's. They got hired; many of us did not.
"Janesville" is a really good read. The author approaches the city's economic travesty via people who worked for GM and who lost their jobs. Therefore, instead of reading about corporate decisions, you read about families and how this changed their lives, how they had to adjust (and many didn't) and the toll this economic disaster took on them. There are moments of grace and honor, and moments of sadness and resolute anger. And there are passages about Paul Ryan and his devious political schemes. Ryan is from Janesville and you might think that would have made him empathetic, but since he was one of the rich guys who didn't suffer from the plant closure, his political fortunes just kept on rolling along.
If you are a library fan, I suggest you take this book out of the library and experience how a really nice city like Janesville bore the brunt, not only of the GM plant closure, but of the subprime mortgage fiasco as well. It's a story well told and worth reading. It's part of our American history and history is always worth investigating.
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