There Is No Place for Us

“[Goldstone] writes about a ruthless housing system that profits from people’s desperation and penalizes them for being poor. I was moved by this book. I also felt enraged.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review“Goldstone stitches together a textured and extraordinarily detailed narrative of [five families’] multiyear struggle to keep a roof over their heads. The effect is reminiscent of Random Family… . There Is No Place for Us shifts the paradigm on homelessness.”—The Washington Post“An incredible feat … Stunning … A book like this ought to be a rallying cry, the 21st-century equivalent of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.”—The Nation“Beautifully crafted … Revelatory and often heartbreaking … [Goldstone] has the clear eye and deft touch of a master storyteller. There Is No Place for Us reveals an America few of us know.”—The New York Review of Books“Poignant … Through in-depth and often heart-rending accounts, Mr. Goldstone shows why [families] lack stable housing and face difficulties in acquiring it.”—The Wall Street Journal“Brian Goldstone’s stunning nonfiction debut, There Is No Place for Us, traces the downfall of the American worker to the fallout of the American Dream… . Magnificently stylistic… . [Reads like] a gripping novel.”— Rolling Stone“[An] extraordinary work of journalism … There Is No Place for Us tells the stories of [five] families with precision and depth.”— Jezebel“Devastating … [Goldstone] writes with unusual depth and humanity about people whose stories political and media elites largely prefer to ignore.”—Baffler“Read this extraordinary book. If you’re lucky, you’ll be changed.”—Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family“In this brilliant book, Brian Goldstone lays bare the hidden disaster of housing precarity among America’s low-wage workers.”—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of Race for Profit“If you read one book this year—or this decade—it should be There Is No Place for Us.”—Adelle Waldman, author of Help Wanted“Spellbinding and unflinching … this book will devastate you and then set your spirit ablaze.”—Antonia Hylton, author of Madness“Deeply reported and written with an empathy that brims from every page … [Goldstone] has pulled off a rare and stunning narrative feat.”—Jonathan Blitzer, author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here“A crucial, masterful book that will change the national conversation about homelessness.”—Rachel Aviv, author of Strangers to Ourselves“A blistering investigation into the true scope of America’s ballooning homelessness crisis.”—Roxanna Asgarian, author of We Were Once a Family“A tremendous achievement in reporting, in narration, in emotional and intellectual understanding.”—James Fallows, author of Our Towns“A model of ethical journalism … Make a place for this book alongside Jane Jacobs’ classic Death and Life of Great American Cities.”—Kirkus Reviews“A gripping, high-stakes account of America’s housing emergency.”—Publishers Weekly“There Is No Place for Us belongs on the shelf next to Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Evicted.”—BookPage, starred review“A revelatory and gut-wrenching exploration of an often-ignored homeless population.”—Associated Press

Brian Goldstone is a journalist whose longform reporting and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, The New Republic, The California Sunday Magazine, and Jacobin, among other publications. He has a PhD in anthropology from Duke University and was a Mellon Research Fellow at Columbia University. In 2021, he was a National Fellow at New America. He lives in Atlanta with his family.