Legal alchemy

In this work of social journalism, a spotlight is cast on a population we find it easy, or convenient, to overlook. "While the national economy has been growing, the economic prospects of most Americans have been dimming," William Finnegan writes. "A new American class structure is being born - one that is harsher, in many ways, than the one it is replacing. Some people are thriving in it, of course. This book is about some families who are not. More particularly, it's about their children who are teenagers and young adults, about their lives and times, how they speak and act as they try to find their way in this cold new world.".