The Columbia Journalism Review
"Gottesdiener’s book is a welcome, mortgage-edition proof for Faulkner’s line that the past isn’t dead. It's not even past ... The footnotes alone are worth the price of the book."
Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple
"I’m spreading the word about Laura Gottesdiener’s FINE book wherever I go and wherever I am. [It's] a wonderful book."
Marc Lamont Hill, Huffinton Post Live
"An incredible book…a great set of stories being told here…and more importantly, a powerful narrative about the relationship between black people and ownership"
Johanna Fernandez professor in the Department of History at Baruch College
“From the time of their capture in Africa, through Emancipation and the Great Migration, to the national economic and housing crisis of today, people of African descent in the United States have been defined by their search for home. Using the dreams and aspirations of four families as her point of departure, Laura Gottesdiener narrates a beautifully crafted story about predatory lending, foreclosure abuse, the racial politics of home ownership, and the brave struggles launched by African American communities to keep their dignities and their homes. She demonstrates that amidst the greatest housing crisis the nation has seen, the current struggle among African Americans for economic equality is forcing upon our nation a redefinition of American freedom, one that challenges us to reconsider the fundamental flaw in our national security: the market-driven character of housing. With great humanity and solidarity for those on the front lines of this epic battle, Gottesdiener offers a compelling political analysis, and a way forward in a time of national crisis. A Dream Foreclosed is a powerful, impressive and page-turning testimony that ordinary people can fight back and win.”
Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! and New York Times bestselling author
"It's a really incredible book"
Naomi Klein , author of The Shock Doctrine
"Compelling and lucidly told stories a.... A riveting book."
Ralph Nader
"A Dream Foreclosed is a powerful combination of riveting stories about four defrauded families and their fight back together with the broader documentation of Wall Street's corporate crimes that crashed the economy. Laura Gottesdiener, a veteran of Occupy Wall Street, has the acute eye and pen of a young progressive star with extraordinary talent. Her pages should grip you with motivational indignation."
Russell Mokhiber, Corporate Crime Reporter
"A remarkable book that hits hard against the big Wall Street banks."
Tim Wise, author of many books including Colorblind and Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority
"A brilliant and needed narrative by an insightful and inspiring author."
Noam Chomsky
“The legislation to rescue the perpetrators of the current financial crisis included provisions for limited compensation to their victims. No need to tarry on which part of the bargain has been fulfilled. The bare statistics on foreclosures are shattering enough. But the enormity of the crime strikes home vividly in the heart-rending accounts of those who are brutally thrown out of their modest homes — for African Americans particularly, almost all they have — then survive in the streets, struggle on, and sometimes even regain something of what was stolen from them thanks to the courageous and inspiring work of the home liberation activists, now reinforced by the Occupy movement. All recounted with historical depth and analytic insight in this most valuable study.”
Linn Washington, author of Black Judges on Justice, Perspectives from the Bench
“Americans need the stories in this book: inspiring resistance to the serialized corporate crimes that crush not only ‘Dreams’ but the capacity to thrive beyond subsistence.”
Clarence Lusane, author of The Black History of the White House
“...[a] brilliant discourse on the battle over home and community by African Americans... [w]e owe Gottesdiener a great debt for her research and powerful argument that permeates A Dream Foreclosed. ... Gottesdiener’s effort here is a much needed and welcomed counter-weight. She takes sides in this battle and gives voice to those who are rarely if ever heard.”
TomDispatch
"Gottesdiener’s new book, A Dream Foreclosed, is a people’s history of the financial crisis that jolted this country and has never ended. It has been hailed by Naomi Klein as “riveting” and Noam Chomsky as a “most valuable study... with historical depth and analytical insight.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal , Counterpunch
“A Dream Foreclosed finds beauty amidst immense pain and suffering—the beauty of people continuing to fight back against rapacious banks, the politicians they buy and the lawyers they hire. It is a work both beautiful and terrible that deserves to be read by many.”
Danny Schechter, Al Jazeera
A new book by Laura Gottesdiener, A Dream Foreclosed offers deeper context in the socio-economic effects of the housing crash. She shows how foreclosures have devastated America's black community while banks profit. Incredulously, nearly every African American has seen their income decrease - all under the watch of our first black president. She offers first person reports on the trauma and tragedies of families who bought homes with deceptive loans offered by hustlers and conmen who knew they would not be able to afford their payments but sold the properties anyway. These are the people who made large fees from subprime loans even when borrowers qualified for lower interest loans. Her reporting from the frontlines of this battle humanises the issues and highlights the injustices that most of the business media glosses over. Her insights conflicts with the president's, most of the media and the banks. "We've already tried policies that benefit Wall Street and massive corporations, and all we've ended up with is more financial consolidation, speculation and criminal activity," she concludes.
Eleanor J. Bador, Truthout
"An invaluable introduction to a system that has booted more than 10 million US residents out of their homes since 2007."
—
The Columbia Journalism Review
"Gottesdiener’s book is a welcome, mortgage-edition proof for Faulkner’s line that the past isn’t dead. It's not even past ... The footnotes alone are worth the price of the book."
Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple
"I’m spreading the word about Laura Gottesdiener’s FINE book wherever I go and wherever I am. [It's] a wonderful book."
Marc Lamont Hill, Huffinton Post Live
"An incredible book…a great set of stories being told here…and more importantly, a powerful narrative about the relationship between black people and ownership"
Johanna Fernandez professor in the Department of History at Baruch College
“From the time of their capture in Africa, through Emancipation and the Great Migration, to the national economic and housing crisis of today, people of African descent in the United States have been defined by their search for home. Using the dreams and aspirations of four families as her point of departure, Laura Gottesdiener narrates a beautifully crafted story about predatory lending, foreclosure abuse, the racial politics of home ownership, and the brave struggles launched by African American communities to keep their dignities and their homes. She demonstrates that amidst the greatest housing crisis the nation has seen, the current struggle among African Americans for economic equality is forcing upon our nation a redefinition of American freedom, one that challenges us to reconsider the fundamental flaw in our national security: the market-driven character of housing. With great humanity and solidarity for those on the front lines of this epic battle, Gottesdiener offers a compelling political analysis, and a way forward in a time of national crisis. A Dream Foreclosed is a powerful, impressive and page-turning testimony that ordinary people can fight back and win.”
Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! and New York Times bestselling author
"It's a really incredible book"
Naomi Klein , author of The Shock Doctrine
"Compelling and lucidly told stories a.... A riveting book."
Ralph Nader
"A Dream Foreclosed is a powerful combination of riveting stories about four defrauded families and their fight back together with the broader documentation of Wall Street's corporate crimes that crashed the economy. Laura Gottesdiener, a veteran of Occupy Wall Street, has the acute eye and pen of a young progressive star with extraordinary talent. Her pages should grip you with motivational indignation."
Russell Mokhiber, Corporate Crime Reporter
"A remarkable book that hits hard against the big Wall Street banks."
Tim Wise, author of many books including Colorblind and Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority
"A brilliant and needed narrative by an insightful and inspiring author."
Noam Chomsky
“The legislation to rescue the perpetrators of the current financial crisis included provisions for limited compensation to their victims. No need to tarry on which part of the bargain has been fulfilled. The bare statistics on foreclosures are shattering enough. But the enormity of the crime strikes home vividly in the heart-rending accounts of those who are brutally thrown out of their modest homes — for African Americans particularly, almost all they have — then survive in the streets, struggle on, and sometimes even regain something of what was stolen from them thanks to the courageous and inspiring work of the home liberation activists, now reinforced by the Occupy movement. All recounted with historical depth and analytic insight in this most valuable study.”
Linn Washington, author of Black Judges on Justice, Perspectives from the Bench
“Americans need the stories in this book: inspiring resistance to the serialized corporate crimes that crush not only ‘Dreams’ but the capacity to thrive beyond subsistence.”
Clarence Lusane, author of The Black History of the White House
“...[a] brilliant discourse on the battle over home and community by African Americans... [w]e owe Gottesdiener a great debt for her research and powerful argument that permeates A Dream Foreclosed. ... Gottesdiener’s effort here is a much needed and welcomed counter-weight. She takes sides in this battle and gives voice to those who are rarely if ever heard.”
TomDispatch
"Gottesdiener’s new book, A Dream Foreclosed, is a people’s history of the financial crisis that jolted this country and has never ended. It has been hailed by Naomi Klein as “riveting” and Noam Chomsky as a “most valuable study... with historical depth and analytical insight.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal , Counterpunch
“A Dream Foreclosed finds beauty amidst immense pain and suffering—the beauty of people continuing to fight back against rapacious banks, the politicians they buy and the lawyers they hire. It is a work both beautiful and terrible that deserves to be read by many.”
Danny Schechter, Al Jazeera
A new book by Laura Gottesdiener, A Dream Foreclosed offers deeper context in the socio-economic effects of the housing crash. She shows how foreclosures have devastated America's black community while banks profit. Incredulously, nearly every African American has seen their income decrease - all under the watch of our first black president. She offers first person reports on the trauma and tragedies of families who bought homes with deceptive loans offered by hustlers and conmen who knew they would not be able to afford their payments but sold the properties anyway. These are the people who made large fees from subprime loans even when borrowers qualified for lower interest loans. Her reporting from the frontlines of this battle humanises the issues and highlights the injustices that most of the business media glosses over. Her insights conflicts with the president's, most of the media and the banks. "We've already tried policies that benefit Wall Street and massive corporations, and all we've ended up with is more financial consolidation, speculation and criminal activity," she concludes.
Eleanor J. Bador, Truthout
"An invaluable introduction to a system that has booted more than 10 million US residents out of their homes since 2007."
—
