Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt

From the dusty plains of North Dakota to the coal-veined hills of West Virginia to the desolate and ravaged streets of Camden N.J., Chris Hedges and cartoonist/journalist Joe Sacco introduce us to the nation’s “sacrifice zones”–those regions where, in the authors’ view, corporate greed has run wild, and the locals have suffered. A unique mashup of investigative journalism, man-on-the-street reportage, graphic novel, and anti-corporate manifesto, the result is a riveting and often chilling account of America’s forgotten zones. The balance between Hedges’ narrative nonfiction storytelling and Sacco’s intimate and very human sketches is surprisingly effective. And the stark depictions (both written and visual) of abandoned coal mines and empty downtowns and crumbling houses are heartbreaking, as are the stories of people struggling to survive.