Falling by William McPherson

Falling Reviews

• 
  Ivonne Rovira

  A touch, eye-opening window into what it means to fall from cushy middle-class status into poverty. Highly, highly recommended.
• 
  Travelin

  Here it is, free:
  
  
  http://www.iasc-culture.org/THR/THR_a...
  
  I can only assume that he was living in mildly expensive HUD housing in New York City or somewhere near. The numbers he gives for his annual income would be more than adequate for a single man in a realistic apartment, barring medical costs of course.
  
  What's so strange is that this man had spent many years living in eastern Europe, yet the numbers he quotes for dental work, etc. seem to be U.S. dental costs. Perhaps his view of overseas medicine was blackened by visiting so soon after communism fell?
• 
  Thom (T.E.)

  An important essay that left me wanting more. Anyone entering middle age should read this--I wish I'd read it a few years ago. McPherson's voice parses out pride and humility in a balance that I envy--to a point. He's sharing the view of a hard side of life, and only wants to make his point long enough so that I've learned it well, and then he and I can go on about our business. With a little luck, my business won't have so much time taken up with queues and paperwork, and the wearying thoughts of when I need to ask for assistance to get by.
• 
  John Freeman

  In the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic and the economic fallout that is sure to follow, we may find this essay from a man who "fell" from middle class to poor to be our story too.