The Hero's Fight

"Fernández-Kelly tells these life stories with novelistic flair. This is not ordinary 'interview' data. It is hard won over years of direct immersion--watching people grow up, change jobs, give birth. The Hero's Fight is inflected with intimacy. It is also a book of wide-ranging commentary that masters an extraordinary range of literatures."--Harvey Molotch, author of Against Security: How We Go Wrong at Airports, Subways, and Other Sites of Ambiguous Danger"The Hero's Fight examines the lives of a web of interconnected residents in inner-city Baltimore with a rare combination of care, concern, and critical reflection. This powerful and important book challenges us to reconsider the most basic tenets of how a welfare state should and could help the most vulnerable members of our society."--Harel Shapira, author of Waiting for José The Minutemen's Pursuit of America