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The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy Audiobook
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Winner of The Hillman Prize for Book Journalism - 2019 When the people of Flint, Michigan, turned on their faucets in April 2014, the water pouring out was poisoned with lead and other toxins. Through a series of disastrous decisions, the state government had switched the city’s water supply to a source that corroded Flint’s aging lead pipes. Complaints about the foul-smelling water were dismissed: the residents of Flint, mostly poor and African American, were not seen as credible, even in matters of their own lives. It took eighteen months of activism by city residents and a band of dogged outsiders to force the state to admit that the water was poisonous. By that time, twelve people had died and Flint’s children had suffered irreparable harm. The long battle for accountability and a humane response to this man-made disaster has only just begun. In Anna Clark's full account of this American tragedy, Anna Clark's The Poisoned City recounts the gripping story of Flint’s poisoned water through the people who caused it, suffered from it, and exposed it. It is a chronicle of one town, but could also be about any American city, all made precarious by the neglect of infrastructure and the erosion of democratic decision making. Places like Flint are set up to fail—and for the people who live and work in them, the consequences can be fatal.
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"The tainted and harmful water supply of Flint, Michigan, did not happen accidentally. It resulted from an ongoing failure of individuals and institutions and reflects how our nation values some lives over others. To communicate such a blunt message, Xe Sands is the perfect narrator because her voice is smartly intimate. Her inviting tone comes through like a confidante's whisper and transforms the harsh issues that Clark highlights into a narrative that listeners will be ready to hear."
— AudioFile
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“A comprehensive chronicle of the crisis—with an eye for the institutional corruption and indifference that enabled it.”
— New York Times -
“An exceptional work of journalism.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“Gripping and packed with meticulously sourced reportage… Clark’s rich account intersperses policy and environmental science with vivid portraits of Flint and its citizens, ramping up the tension as the horror unfolds…A must-read.”
— Nature -
“To communicate such a blunt message, Xe Sands is the perfect narrator because her voice is smartly intimate. Her inviting tone comes through like a confidante’s whisper and transforms the harsh issues that Clark highlights into a narrative that listeners will be ready to hear.”
— AudioFile -
“Will open readers’ eyes to both the scary truth that most of our cities rely on equally weak water infrastructure and how a city’s residents can force others to listen.”
— Amazon.com -
“Searing scrutiny…A cornucopia of history and responsibly researched details…This is an important book, for Flint, for all American cities, and for our nation.”
— East Village Magazine (Flint, Michigan) -
“[A] copiously documented saga of moneyed corruption…A bracing, closely reported chronicle.”
— Bookforum -
“[A] complex, exquisitely detailed account…A potent cautionary tale of urban neglect and indifference. Infuriated readers will be heartened by the determined efforts of protesters and investigative reporter.”
— Kirkus Review (starred review) -
“Clark combines a staggering amount of research and several intimate story lines…naming all the names and presenting the confirming research…The Poisoned City is an environmental tent revival for people who continue to suffer and a call to arms for everyone who values professional local journalism.”
— Booklist (starred review)
Awards
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month selection
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Finalist for the 2019 Helen Bernstein Book Award
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One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018
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Among shortlisted titles for Helen Bernstein Book Award - Nominee, 2019
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Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2018
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Among longlisted titles for Washington Post Best Books of the Year, 2018
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Among longlisted titles for Seattle Times Best Books of the Year, 2018
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Winner of The Hillman Prize for Book Journalism, 2019
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About Anna Clark
Anna Clark is an author and journalist living in Detroit. Her writing has appeared in Elle magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, the Columbia Journalism Review, Next City, and other publications. She is the editor of A Detroit Anthology, named a Michigan Notable Book, and she had been a writer-in-residence in Detroit public schools as part of the InsideOut Literary Arts program. She has also been a Fulbright fellow in Nairobi, Kenya, and a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan.
About Xe Sands
Xe Sands has more than a decade of experience bringing stories to life through narration, performance, and visual art, including recordings of the Nightwalkers series from Jaquelyn Frank. She has received several honors, including AudioFile Earphones Awards and a coveted Audie Award, and she was named Favorite Debut Romance Narrator of 2011 in the Romance Audiobooks poll.