FEATURED REVIEW
“An astonishingly important work.”
Alex Kotlowitz, The Atlantic Review, 1/24/24
REVIEWS
“Through beautifully layered reporting, Herold argues that time and demographic change
have created a novel disenchantment. The suburbs are now a trap.”
The New Republic, Review, 4/18/24
"Exhaustively researched, impassioned, and scathing."
Pop Matters Review, 3/19/24
"A complicated and sometimes uncomfortable story. There are very few true villains, yet there’s a lot of bad and short-sighted acting, which only becomes apparent when you cast off your own perspective and look at the issues through the eyes of others."
Chicago Tribune Review, 2/10/24
"A searing critique of the toxic legacy of white control, racial exclusion and 'opportunity hoarding' in many suburbs."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Review, 2/5/24
“Reminiscent of Common Ground, J. Anthony Lukas’ groundbreaking tale of the Boston busing crisis of the 1970s...Individual stories are woven together with demographic & historical research to build a compelling portrait of just what is going wrong…Disillusioned also benefits from an unusual epilogue that helps it rise above a standard journalistic tale.”
Financial Times Review, 2/1/24
“Richly reported... Finally, here’s someone to take us to the places that early on served as an escape valve, mostly for white families fleeing the changing demographics of urban America, the places where many Americans imagined a kind of social and economic utopia.”
The Atlantic Review, 1/24/24
“An important, clear-eyed account of suburban boom and bust...Each suburb’s history is engrossing, and Herold delivers an up-close, intimate account of life there that resounds with broader meaning.”
The New York Times Book Review, 1/22/24
“This intrepid inquiry into the unfulfilled promise of America’s suburbs posits that a ‘deep-seated history of white control, racial exclusion, and systematic forgetting’ has poisoned the great postwar residential experiment.”
New Yorker Review, 1/22/24
“A blistering indictment... Nuanced & moving...Herold reminds us that places don't start out in disrepair.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune Review, 1/17/24
“A deeply valuable study of the decline of suburbia.”
Kirkus Review (Starred), 11/14/23
“Eye-opening… An illuminating account of a poorly understood crisis.”
Publishers Weekly Review, 10/19/23
“Thoughtful, informative, and very disturbing . . . deserves a wide audience.”
Booklist
FEATURED MEDIA
‘Disillusioned’ Author:
American Suburbs Have Become a Ponzi Scheme
PBS, Amanpour & Co. interview, 2/13/24
IN THE MEDIA
DISILLUSIONED: A parent’s perspective (by Bethany Smith)
Kappan/The Grade, 5/22/24
5 Questions with author Benjamin Herold
The Learning Agency, 1/31/24
In ‘Disillusioned,’ author Benjamin Herold grapples
with the false promise of the suburbs
Georgia Public Broadcasting Interview,82/6/24
New book explores racial inequity, tension in America’s suburbs
WTTW Chicago, 4/17/24
Benjamin Herold digs into his Penn Hills roots
in new book about suburbia.
NEXT Pittsburgh, 4/10/24
Author talk: Why the suburbs are failing America’s families
Seattle Times, 3/27/24
Benjamin Herold’s ‘Disillusioned’
WAMC Interview, 3/1/24
‘Disillusioned’
The Jimmy Malone Show Interview, WTAM Cleveland, 2/6/24
A Black Family’s Search for a Quality Education Outside Atlanta Clashes with Reality (excerpt)
The Hechinger Report, 1/29/24
Books Briefing: The Human Face of American Decline
The Atlantic, 1/26/24
Suburban Schools Reborn: Compton, Calif. Is Charting a Hopeful Path (excerpt)
Education Week, 1/24/24
Philly Writer’s New Book Explores Changes in America’s Suburbs
Philly Voice, 1/24/24
The Unraveling of America’s Suburbs
WHYY Studio 2 interview, 1/23/24
Evanston, D65 Examined in New Book
Evanston Now, 1/23/24
‘Disillusioned’ Examines How Penn Hills, Other Suburbs Undercut Black Families’ Dreams
WESA, 1/23/24
In New Book, Diverse Families Find Broken Schools, Broken Dreams in the ‘Burbs
Author Q&A with The 74, 1/22/24
Scrutinizing Suburbia, and Myself
Author essay for The Grade, 1/22/24
Racism in Philly Suburban Schools
Op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/22/24
PODCAST APPEARANCES
Cracks in Postmodernity
Bummed Out in the Burbs, Guest appearance, 5/26/24
Deconstruting the Suburbs with Benjamin Herold
The Suburban Women Pod, Guest appearance, 5/15/24
Strong Towns
The Unraveling of America’s Suburbs, Guest appearance, 3/18/24
Georgia Public Broadcasting
Benjamin Herold’s Disillusioned, podcast review, 2/13/24
Red Wine & Blue
How We Can Overcome the Suburban Racial Divide,
Guest appearance, 1/31/24
Converging Dialogues
The Disillusionment of Suburbia, Guest appearance, 2/7/24
Commonweal Magazine
The New Suburbia, Guest appearance, 2/7/24
Kudzu Vine Politics
Guest Appearance 2/4/24
Facepalm America
The Unraveling of America’s Suburbs, Guest Appearance 2/1/24
Education Talk Radio
A New Book on Education in America’s Suburbs,
Guest Appearance 1/31/24
The Impact Code
Insights from ‘Disillusioned,’ Guest Appearance 1/26/24
The Daily Beast
The New Abnormal, Guest Appearance, 1/23/24
Keen On With Andrew Keen
Suburbia & American Disillusionment, Guest Appearance, 1/25/24
The Realignment Podcast
Are America’s Suburbs Unraveling, Guest Appearance, 1/23/24
EWA Radio
The Rise and Fall of the American Suburban Dream,
Guest Appearance, 1/23/24
The Chris Voss Show
Disillusioned, Guest Appearance, 1/23/24
Best Nonfiction Books of the Month
Amazon Editors, January 2024
LISTS