Funny, thoughtful and thought provoking short and sweet stories, filled with moments that are personal but speak to bigger issues...a book that touches on ways the world can be sad and outrageous, but rolls up its sleeves and carries on with heart and humor.

This memoir was informative, particularly in terms of Detroit’s history and current politics. For that reason, I’m glad I read it. Details about the Bengali community in the area were also interesting. What I don’t understand is why this book was written in present tense. Even historical events dating back to Henry Ford were written in present tense. I appreciated that the narrator was aware of how her presence might have been perceived in a community of color. Her bemoaning the lack of an arts

Did not go deep enough. Her truthout cartoons on the foreclosure, blight and water crisis in Detroit are great. Unfortunately she didn't apply her own reporting rigor to her own life. Her bemoaning of Detroiters aversion to reading is particularly cringe.

A timely and gorgeous exploration of home, culture, community, immigration, and so much more in this memoir of art, gender, work, and survival. Looking for your next great read? How about author interviews, discussion questions, insights, writing prompts/inspiration, book lists, and more? Join me every week at www.leslielindsay.com|Always with a Book I admit to falling in love with this book based on the eye-catching cover, the title alone, and of course, the fact that it is about a writer in a

Houses in Detroit were being given away to writers! I remember the articles in the Detroit Free Press. On the surface, Write a House sounded like a great idea. All those empty houses in the city, why not? “It’s like a writer-in-residence program…only in this case we’re actually giving the writer the residence, forever,” an article in Publisher’s Weekly noted. The writers were given two years rent-free then handed the deed. All they had to do was to “engage with the literary community of Detroit,...

**This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.**A highly engaging and readable memoir.Told in short, digestible vignettes, Gentrifier recounts the experience of the author after being “gifted” a “free” house in an underserved neighborhood in Detroit. Both Moore’s personal experience and the history of the house itself turn out to be more complicated, particularly within the broader American and Detroit-centric history of race, class, and...

One of the best types of books is the kind you read really quickly and then tell yourself that you need to re-read it, this time slowly. The book is hilarious and told in short vignettes, which makes it an easy read, but there is so much in it - gentrification of course, housing policy, racism, immigration, the concept of work. I had not heard of this author before and want to go look up her other books.

This memoir introduces Moore, an accomplished journalist and writer, as she wins a free house in Detroit. As a writer, Moore is delighted for the chance of owning her own home, something she likely couldn't do with her income; she just has to live in Detroit for two years and it's hers. What could go wrong? Writing this memoir is Moore's attempt to salvage what becomes an isolating and unsettling experience for her. There are moments of beauty and joy as she befriends her neighbors, Bangladeshi

Gentrifier - The title intrigued me. As a white woman who has spent the past ~15 years moving around the US, almost always living in gentrifying neighborhoods - I felt compelled to read this memoir.The author is given a free home in Detroit as part of a program for artists. The story details the varied (positive & negative) experiences she has when moving into a home in a primarily Bengali neighborhood during an extremely dark time in Detroit's history. Some include: dealing with utterly failing...

3.5 starsIn 2016, a Detroit arts organization creates an innovating program: a writer-in-residence program … except after two years, the writer becomes the legal homeowner. The only stipulation is that in the those two years, the writer must live in the home 75% of the time and be willing to engage with the city’s literary community and be flexible with press/promotion.For Anne Elizabeth Moore, the program is an experiment but also an incredible opportunity to become a homeowner as a person limi...

I learned so much! Also, I kept wondering how the author would end this book, and it ended beautifully, powerfully. Well done.

This was sort of written like a stream of consciousness. One paragraph would be about cleaning out the backyard of mulberry trees and the next about shopping for groceries and men asking her out. It doesn't sound that bad when I write it but it was oftentimes so jarring that I kept thinking I skipped a page.Interestingly, the only people in the neighborhood she mentions by name, and those she seems to be the closest to, are the children. Some teens, some younger. All the parents are referred to

This book stood out to me because I haven’t seen many memoirs written about the feelings and emotions that come along with playing a part in gentrification. Moore is a white, female, writer who was gifted a house in Detroit by an association “giving away free houses” to authors who needed a good place to live especially while they worked on their writing. She tells about her experience in this process more through moments and less of a timeline which I enjoyed. She focused on facts as much as sh...

this author finds themselves to be the most important character in their story. this white author, in a city that she got a free house in that is mostly non-white people, in a book called gentrifier. and it’s not even a joke, to the extent that she talks about a Bangladesh child asking is she’s a famous writer before listing the accolades that of course make her a famous writer.this was the most insufferable book i’ve ever read. DNF.

I've been a fan of Anne Elizabeth Moore's writing for several years now, but that didn't prepare me for how much I enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. The vignettes structure of the memoir felt like reading postcards or short letters from Anne - "Hi! you wouldn't believe the crazy thing that happened this week...".I found myself relating quite a bit to the pieces regarding alienation, displacement and what truly makes a place 'home'. Having recently relocated to a new city at a certain st...

Detroit, Michigan has fallen on hard times in the 21st century. The Motor City had a plethora of decrepit houses they were trying to rehab and then “give” away. Moore applied for one of those free houses and lived in it for two years. Those experiences are the basis for her her book. Of course, nothin this ever free as she finds out and chapters are devoted to her legal battles to gain title to the house. The parts I was most interested in were her neighbors. A delightful cast of characters made...

A white lady wins a free house in a Bangladeshi neighborhood in Detroit and complains about everything every step of the way. I was particularly disturbed and disappointed by how she continually centered herself in this story and tried to make herself the white savior of the block. I wish she centered her neighbors’ stories more than her own. They were by far the most interesting part of this story.

this book was sooooo interesting, well written, and thought provoking! I vaguely remember hearing about free houses in Detroit but didn't know anything else about that program or actually Detroit. I loved the writing style; the way everything would loop together instead of being written linearly. I personally like that style of writing and loved the short vignettes. My favorite parts where about the teen girls she met and watching them grow up with her. I liked Moore's realization she is part of...

I am a lifelong resident of Baltimore, a city that has a fair amount in common with Detroit so I was interested in reading this book.I was really disappointed. She presents most of the stories as sort of vignettes without a lot of depth or discussion. This happened, this happened, this happened all broken into thematic sections. It’s not chronological which is fine but it is a little off-putting to read about a cat funeral and then have the cat alive and well in a later section. There was also v...

”It can be a nightmare to be publicly awarded a free house.” Anne Elizabeth Moore’s memoir begins with a fascinating premise but fails to realize all the themes she introduces. Told in a series of non-chronological vignettes, Moore introduces us to herself, her Bengali neighborhood, and the city of Detroit. It’s a quick read that contains many funny, warm moments. Yet, the non-linear plot can be frustrating; moments that appear later in the book link back to old ones that would have been more sa...