Amy Goldstein

press release: Pulitzer-Prize winning author Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post will introduce her new book, Janesville: An American Story, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Friday, April 28. The seminar and book discussion begins at 4 p.m. in Room 8417 of the Sewell Social Sciences Building, 1180 Observatory Drive.

Goldstein’s book focuses on Janesville, in southern Wisconsin, and the loss of its largest employer during the Great Recession. It also explores the larger story of the hollowing of the American middle class and what happens when a community with a can-do spirit tries to pick itself up after a loss.

“Brilliant, probing, and disturbing,” said award-winning reporter Bob Woodward of The Washington Post. “A gripping story of psychological defeat and resilience.”

Goldstein has written about social policy issues, including health care reform, Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, welfare, and housing, at The Washington Post for 30 years. She was part of a team of Washington Post reporters awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for the newspaper’s coverage of 9/11 and the government’s response to the attacks.

UW–Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs and Institute for Research on Poverty are sponsoring Goldstein’s visit along with the Center for Demography and Ecology, COWS, Department of Community and Environment Sociology, Department of Political Science, Elections Research Center, Morgridge Center for Public Service, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and UW Survey Center.