The title seems vague, but here are some examples of books that I have read that I consider to fit into this genre:
Lost at Sea – Joe Kloc
A look inside a community of people living on abandoned boats in California. They are considered to be homeless, and there is a constant struggle between them and the wealthy homeowners nearby, and local government.
American Zion – Benjamin Park
A history of the Mormon church and its followers.
Chesapeake Requiem – Earl Swift
I loved this one. The author lived on Tangier Island for a year – an isolated island in the Chesapeake bay with unique traditions and ways of living. The island is part of Virginia, but it is very isolated and the way of life is much different than on land.
Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs – Benjamin Herold
A close look at 5 families from different suburbs around the United States. Explores many social issues – race, class, etc.
Amity and Prosperity – Eliza Griswold
Follows several families who are affected by fracking in their area. Health problems arise, local politics, etc. This is one of my favorite books of all time.
Confederates in the Attic – Tony Horwitz
One of my favorites. A look into the culture of the southern United States as it relates to the legacy of the civil war.
Spying on the South – Tony Horwitz
Another one of my favorites. The author follows the path set by Frederick Law Olmstead in the 1800s, and meets many interesting people along the way.
Smoketown – Mark Whitaker
A history of a formerly prosperous black neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA.
Thank you!
by Russlethud
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**Jewels and Ashes, by Arnold Zable.**
The author is Australian-born, and the son of two Holocaust survivors. He goes back to Poland specifically to learn what he can about pre-war Jewish Bialystok – the community that his parents came from, and one that no longer exists.
**Voices From Chernobyl, by Svetlana Alexievich.**
Exactly what it says on the tin. The author is a Belarusian journalist, well known for constructing narratives around extensive interviewing. In this case, the subject is Chernobyl – she interviews people forced to evacuate Pripyat, people who refused to leave, people involved in the clean up, people involved in the cover up…every possible perspective on this singular event, tied to this one specific place and time. She gets them all, and ties it all together.
*Factory Girls* by Leslie Chang
*River Town* by Peter Hessler
*The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China* by Frank Langfitt
*Among the Thugs* by Bill Buford
*Under the Banner of Heaven* by Jon Krakauer
*Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman* by Jon Krakauer
*Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town* by Nick Reding
*Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan* by Jake Adelstein
*The Making of a Chef* by Michael Ruhlman
*Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three* by Mara Leveritt
Valley of Forgetting by Jennie Erin Smith, about a group of families in Colombia with hereditary early onset Alzheimer’s.
The Crofter and the Laird, by John McPhee. Life on an island off the coast of Scotland. It was written in the 1960s so is pretty dated, but it’s a great read about an isolated community with a subsistence economy and centuries of history.
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson. Features fly-tiers (fishing lures). Very interesting book, highly recommend!
Hallie Rubenhold The Five. Zooms in on Jack the Ripper’s victims and offers a detailed look at poverty in Victorian England