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The Myth of the Welfare Queen: A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist's Portrait of Women on the Line

by David Zucchino

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791336,726 (3.65)2
"In this extraordinary first book by a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, author David Zucchino sets out to sift through the stereotypes, politics, and pure misinformation about families on welfare. A reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Zucchino gives us an intimate look at Odessa Williams and Cheri Honkala, two "welfare mothers" from Philadelphia, a city with a disproportionately large number of welfare recipients. He spends the better part of a year with these women, watching as Odessa constructs livable surroundings for herself and her extended family by scavenging and trash picking. Though her character, spirit, and resolve are constantly tested by family crises, she remains the strong and inspiring center of her large - and largely dependent - family." "Zucchino also grows to admire Cheri, a single mother of one son, and a tireless advocate for the rights of the homeless. He watches as she helps one family after another pick up and keep on going. With utter dedication and zeal, and with remarkably little concern for material gains of her own, Cheri battles an inflexible city bureaucracy that in her view makes the already difficult lives of the city's poor nearly impossible." "In this groundbreaking and beautifully written book, Zucchino balances his reporter's objectivity with profound compassion. In seeking to answer the question "What do welfare mothers do all day?" he uncovers no easy answers but is able to say definitively: "If there were any Cadillac-driving, champagne-sipping, penthouse-living, welfare queens in Philadelphia, I didn't find them.""--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved… (more)
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David Zucchino chronicles the every-day lives of two Philadelphian women receiving welfare on the eve of national welfare reform. Odessa Williams is a 56yoa grandmother who has custody of and maintains guardianship for at least half a dozen children, most of which are her grandchildren. Zucchino takes on many daily activities and struggles in Williams' life. Through the relation of Williams' story, friends and other members of Williams' family are introduced, helping create a more robust view of the different lives of people on welfare. Cheri Honkala, who is an activist for affordable housing and welfare rights, is the second "main character" chronicled in the book. Honkala examples those in the "system" who are saying what is being currently afforded to those financially struggling is not enough and more must be done with less red tape to effectively assist. Those who protest with Honkala are also chronicled.

It is important to note that this book does not have a point, by which I mean there is no traditional beginning, middle and end. Rather, this book starts mid-life, follows and stops mid-life. It does not climax and resolve. There are people rather than characters. It is not written with a political or evangelical tone. While the title reads Myth of the Welfare Queen, the way it is written allows the reader to conclude if the "Welfare Queen" is myth or truth. ( )
  Sovranty | May 14, 2015 |
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"In this extraordinary first book by a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, author David Zucchino sets out to sift through the stereotypes, politics, and pure misinformation about families on welfare. A reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Zucchino gives us an intimate look at Odessa Williams and Cheri Honkala, two "welfare mothers" from Philadelphia, a city with a disproportionately large number of welfare recipients. He spends the better part of a year with these women, watching as Odessa constructs livable surroundings for herself and her extended family by scavenging and trash picking. Though her character, spirit, and resolve are constantly tested by family crises, she remains the strong and inspiring center of her large - and largely dependent - family." "Zucchino also grows to admire Cheri, a single mother of one son, and a tireless advocate for the rights of the homeless. He watches as she helps one family after another pick up and keep on going. With utter dedication and zeal, and with remarkably little concern for material gains of her own, Cheri battles an inflexible city bureaucracy that in her view makes the already difficult lives of the city's poor nearly impossible." "In this groundbreaking and beautifully written book, Zucchino balances his reporter's objectivity with profound compassion. In seeking to answer the question "What do welfare mothers do all day?" he uncovers no easy answers but is able to say definitively: "If there were any Cadillac-driving, champagne-sipping, penthouse-living, welfare queens in Philadelphia, I didn't find them.""--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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