About this item
A meticulously reported, character-driven, unforgettable investigation of a time when nothing was certain and everything was at stake, by the acclaimed sociologist and best-selling author Eric Klinenberg. "A gripping, deeply moving account of a signal year in modern history, told through the stories of seven ordinary people." - Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies. 2020 will go down alongside 1914, 1929, and 1968 as one of the most consequential years in history. This riveting and affecting book is the first attempt to capture the full human experience of that fateful time.. At the heart of 2020 are seven vivid profiles of ordinary New Yorkers - including an elementary school principal, a bar manager, a subway custodian, and a local political aide - whose experiences illuminate how Americans, andpeople across the globe, reckoned with 2020.
About the Author
Eric Klinenberg is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. He's the author of Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, and co-author, with Aziz Ansari, of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Modern Romance.Klinenberg's previous books include Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, also published by the Penguin Press. Time Magazine featured Going Solo as the #1 Idea That is Changing Your Life in the March 12, 2012 cover story. Vanity Fair called it "trailblazing." Psychology Today called it "so important that it is likely to become both a popular read and a social science classic." The New Yorker argued that the book "suggests that our usual perceptions about life alone get things backward." And the Washington Post explained that "Going Solo is really about living better together--for all of us, single or not."Klinenberg's first book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, won six scholarly and literary prizes (and was a Favorite Book selection by the Chicago Tribune) , and was praised as "a dense and subtle portrait" (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker) ; "a remarkable, riveting account" (American Prospect) ; "intellectually exciting" (Amartya Sen) ; and a "trenchant, persuasive tale of slow murder by public policy" (Salon) . Professor Klinenberg's second book, Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media, was called "politically passionate and intellectually serious," (Columbia Journalism Review) , "a must-read for those who wonder what happened to good radio, accurate reporting and autonomous public interest" (Time Out New York) , and "eye-opening ...required reading for conscientious citizens" (Kirkus) . Since its publication, he has testified before the Federal Communications Commission and briefed the U.S. Congress on his findings.In addition to his books and scholarly articles, Klinenberg has contributed to popular publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Fortune, The London Review of Books, The Nation, The Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique, Slate, and the radio program This American Life.