"Nomadland: Surviving the 21st Century"

[jonney38]

I saw the book reviewed in the New York Times. The author, Jessica Bruder, traveled and lived among van dwellers to write it. I wondered if anyone encountered her or knows her. I see in other threads she has been on media with Bob.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/books/review-nomadland-jessica-bruder.html

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Well; ... for those thinking this lifestyle may become too popular and/or romanticized ....

 

[cyndi]

Jessica attended at least one RTR.

 

[rvwandering]

We met Jessica at a couple of the RTRs. She really did immerse herself in the vandwelling life while gathering material for the book. She's very sincere and likable plus she's a good writer. She was working on this article at the time - https://harpers.org/archive/2014/08/the-end-of-retirement/8/ Somebody made a copy which was passed around so a lot of us read it. A few people were upset because they thought it painted a dark picture of vandwelling but I think her intention was to focus on the group of people who must work at low-paying, physical jobs even though they are past the age of retirement. It isn't meant to portray all vandwellers. We are a very diverse group.

 I'm planning on reading the book.

 

[MrNoodly]

I was interviewed by Jessica the first year she was at RTR. She quoted me in the article she there researching. We became friends. She also mentioned me briefly in the book and sent me an autographed advanced copy. I was surprised by how many people in the book I knew and am friends with. She doing the book tour now and I hope to make it to one of her West Coast dates.

 

[waldenbound]

I remember that article in Harper's, "The End of Retirement." I thought it was inspirational. Seniors can thumb their nose at sitting in a rocking chair waiting to die and hit the road instead.

 

[DLTooley]

The lifestyle is evolving healthily as is respect for it as a healthy alternative. There will be negative incidents as well as false allegations of same. Preventing those and dealing with them will be a challenge.

I spent a bit of time in urban shelters as I was entering this way of life. One big benefit is that holding a driver's license is mark of a certain level of functionality. Similarly, so too is making it all work long term on a low budget.