Detroit: An American Autopsy

An explosive expos of Americas lost prosperity by Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Charlie LeDuff One cannot read Mr. LeDuff's amalgam of memoir and reportage and not be shaken by the cold eye he casts on hard truths . . . A little gonzo, a little gumshoe, some gawker, some good-Samaritanit is hard to ignore reporting like Mr. LeDuff's. The Wall Street Journal Pultizer-Prize-winning journalist LeDuff . . . writes with honesty and compassion about a city thats destroying itselfand breaking his heart. Publishers Weekly (starred review) A book full of both literary grace and hard-won world-weariness. Kirkus Back in his broken hometown, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff searches the ruins of Detroit for clues to his familys troubled past. Having led us on the way up, Detroit now seems to be leading us on the way down. Once the richest city in America, Detroit is now the nations poorest. Once the vanguard of Americas machine agemass-production, blue-collar jobs, and automobilesDetroit is now Americas capital for unemployment, illiteracy, dropouts, and foreclosures. With the steel-eyed reportage that has become his trademark, and the righteous indignation only a native son possesses, LeDuff sets out to uncover what destroyed his city. He beats on the doors of union bosses and homeless squatters, powerful businessmen and struggling homeowners and the ordinary people holding the city together by sheer determination. Detroit: An American Autopsy is an unbelievable story of a hard town in a rough time filled with some of the strangest and strongest people our country has to offer.