In this stunning and beautifully written book, Bruder…describes her journey with Linda and her other interviews conducted in five states over three years…[a] brilliant and haunting book…

…an important…work influenced by such classics of immersion journalism as Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed…Bruder is a poised and graceful writer.

"Stunning and beautifully written. . . brilliant and haunting"— Arlie Russell Hochschild New York Times Book Review

"People who thought the 2008 financial collapse was over a long time ago need to meet the people Jessica Bruder got to know in this scorching, beautifully written, vivid, disturbing (and occasionally wryly funny) book. Nomadland is a testament both to the generosity and creativity of the victims of our modern-medieval economy, hidden in plain sight, and to the blunt-end brutality that put them there. Is this the best the wealthiest nation on earth can do for those who’ve already done so much?"— Rebecca Solnit, author of A Paradise Built in Hell

"In the early twentieth century, men used to ride the rails in search of work, sharing camps at night. Today, as Bruder brilliantly reports, we have a new class of nomadic workers who travel in their RVs from one short-term job to another. There’s a lot to cringe at here—from low pay and physically exhausting work to constant insecurity. But surprisingly, Nomadland also offers its residents much-needed camaraderie and adventure, which makes this book a joy to read."— Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed

"The campsite as the home of last resort, the RV used not for vacation but for survival: these are the makings of a new dystopia. Nomadland is a smart road book for the new economy, full of conviviality and dark portent."— Ted Conover, author of Rolling Nowhere and Immersion

"You will never forget the people whose stories Bruder tells. Proud, resourceful, screwed-over, funny and in so many ways admirable, the American nomads Bruder lived with and reports on have sometimes lost everything but their bravado . . . . [She] tells their stories with humanity and wit."— Louise Erdrich, author of Future Home of the Living God

"“Bruder is a poised and graceful writer.”"— Parul Sehgal New York Times

"[A] devastating, revelatory book."— Timothy R. Smith Washington Post

"Some readers will come because they're enamored of road narratives, but Bruder's study should be of interest to anyone who cares about the future of work, community, and retirement."— Peter C. Baker Pacific Standard

"[I]mportant, eye-opening journalism."— Kim Ode Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[A]

powerhouse of a book. . . . In the best immersive-journalism tradition, Bruder

records her

misadventures

driving and living in a van. . . . Visceral

and haunting reporting."— Booklist, starred review

★ 2017-05-09
Journalist Bruder (Burning Book: A Visual History of Burning Man, 2007) expands her remarkable cover story for Harper's into a book about low-income Americans eking out a living while driving from locale to locale for seasonal employment.From the beginning of her immersion into a mostly invisible subculture, the author makes it clear that the nomads—many of them senior citizens—refuse to think of themselves as "homeless." Rather, they refer to themselves as "houseless," as in no longer burdened by mortgage payments, repairs, and other drawbacks, and they discuss "wheel estate" instead of real estate. Most of them did not lose their houses willingly, having fallen victim to mortgage fraud, job loss, health care debt, divorce, alcoholism, or some combination of those and additional factors. As a result, they sleep in their cars or trucks or cheaply purchased campers and try to make the best of the situation. At a distance, the nomads might be mistaken for RV owners traveling the country for pleasure, but that is not the case. Bruder traveled with some of the houseless for years while researching and writing her book. She builds the narrative around one especially accommodating nomad, senior citizen Linda May, who is fully fleshed on the page thanks to the author's deep reporting. May and her fellow travelers tend to find physically demanding, low-wage jobs at Amazon.com warehouses that aggressively seek seasonal workers or at campgrounds, sugar beet harvest sites, and the like. The often desperate nomads build communities wherever they land, offering tips for overcoming common troubles, sharing food, repairing vehicles, counseling each other through bouts of depression, and establishing a grapevine about potential employers. Though very little about Bruder's excellent journalistic account offers hope for the future, an ersatz hope radiates from within Nomadland: that hard work and persistence will lead to more stable situations. Engaging, highly relevant immersion journalism.

2018 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, Short-listed
2021 Ryszard Kapuscinski International Award for Literary Reporting, Winner