As Nomadland steers its westerly course – from the Baftas in London to the Oscars in Los Angeles – it is living a dream that it knows is a lie.Ĭondé Nast Traveler called it “a love letter to America’s wide open spaces”, which is true up to a point, but this ignores the pathos, poverty and desperation at its core. The road has been cleared, the gold rush is on, but the Hollywood happy ending feels at odds with the film. Shot for $5m and largely featuring amateur actors, it is the little movie that could: this year’s rags-to-riches story, beloved by the critics and odds-setters alike. Bruder teaches at the Columbia School of Journalism.I t has been a wild ride for Nomadland, Chloé Zhao’s roving portrait of the US’s rootless modern migrants. She has written for Harper’s Magazine, the New York Times, and The Washington Post. JESSICA BRUDER is an award-winning journalist whose work focuses on subcultures and the dark corners of the economy.

KATHERINE BOO, author of Behind the Beautiful Forever’s “This extraordinary book maps the chasm between what America wants to be and what it actually is.” At the same time, it celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of these Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive but have not given up hope. Nomadland tells a revelatory tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy-one which foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. These invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs and modified vans, forming a growing community of nomads. REBECCA SOLNIT, author of Men Explain Things to Me and A Paradise Built in Hellįrom the beet fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon’s Camper Force program in Texas, employers have discovered a new low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older adults. “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.”

ANTHONY LUKAS BOOK PRIZE AND THE HELEN BERNSTEIN BOOK AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE

The book nomadland