Life at the Bottom : The Worldview That Makes the Underclass

Here is a searing account—probably the best yet published—of life in the underclass and why it persists as it does. Theodore Dalrymple, a British psychiatrist who treats the poor in a slum hospital and a prison in England, has seemingly seen it all. Yet in listening to and observing his patients, he is continually astonished by the latest twist of depravity that exceeds even his own considerable experience.

Key Insight:

Dalrymple's central argument in Life at the Bottom is that long-term poverty is caused not by economics but by a dysfunctional set of values. These values are continually reinforced by an elite culture that searches for victims. This culture convinces those at the bottom that they bear no responsibility for their actions and are not the molders of their own lives.

Compelling Vignettes:

Drawn from the pages of the cutting-edge political and cultural quarterly City Journal, Dalrymple's book is a collection of scores of eye-opening, true-life vignettes. These stories are:

• Hilariously funny
• Chillingly horrifying
• All too revealing—sometimes all at once.

And all of this is written in prose that transcends journalism and achieves the quality of literature.