Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass

by Dale Maharidge, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Williamson

Book Overview

'Journey to Nowhere puts faces and real-life circumstances on all the statistics that you read about but that remain abstract to a lot of people. It doesn't really tell you what to think, it just shows you things: This is what we found, this is what is out there...It's a very powerful book, it should be out there, it should be read.'--Bruce Springsteen

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385279655
• ISBN13: 9780385279659
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Dial Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Insightful Book on the Disenfranchised

Although I initially discovered this book because it had provided inspiration for Bruce Springsteen, "Journey to Nowhere" stands on its own as an insightful book on what the authors call the "Out Generation" -- the forgotten disenfranchised workers left out of the system. The photos alone are worth the price of the book, and the photos and text together tell a number of stories about real people, including unemployed Ohio factory workers, people who ride the rails looking for work, immigrants seeking hope, and homeless families. Few books that one reads have a genuine lasting impact on the reader, but this one will. The fact that this book is out of print might be a reflection of society's desire to close its eyes to the poor, but hopefully the book will again be published.

I live in Youngstown...

This is a remarkable book. I am amazed it is out of print. Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad captures the spirit of this book remarkably well.Youngstown, Ohio is, in many ways, a culture unto itself, a surreal location on planet America. It is ironic because at one time Youngstown seemed to be the epitome of the America Dream. The irony is that in many ways it is still the epitome of America although 'epitome' no longer means the 'goal' of the American Dream but connotates its polar opposite.While this book may leave the reader with a feeling of hopelessness at the America since lost, there is a ray of hope that shines through its pages when one realizes that life is much more than what we see here. The ray of hope is the power of the human spirit to overcome and to live in spite of circumstances. The photos are powerful. The essays are poetic. And the people come alive in its pages.

Must read for economic hardliners and children of conscious

This book, along with the Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, inspired Bruce Springsteens Grammy award winning record The Ghost of Tom Joad. Springsteen writes these days of heroes who are neither Elvis nor Jesus. They are fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters. They are friends and they are those shadows which evoke uneasiness in the darkness. They are the AIDS victim who calls out, 'Receive me brother'. They are the illegal alien who is exploited then discarded as industrial waste. They are the frail urchins of a graceless existence whose hope lies not in feudal promises but in the luminescence of the human spirit. Whether driven by courage or desperation, their heroism comes from the decision to travel the hard road of free will and self determination in search of peace. The omnipotent wish to stride through the front door of Heaven, their individual soul adorned in full credentials. The humble simply wish to avoid Hell. The stories told in Journey to Nowhere by Mr Maharidge in this book bring to life this very real undercalss in America, an underclass from which you and I are no more than one or two missed paychecks removed. It asks not pity but understanding. A moving book.