Newmark Theatre

Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, bestselling authors of Half the Sky, return with a deeply personal new book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope. Looking with clear eyes at our nation’s governmental failures over the past half-century, Kristof and WuDunn examine the contemporary crisis in working-class America through the lens of the families Kristof grew up with in the rural, working-class town of Yamhill, Oregon.

Yamhill prospered for much of the 20th century, but, like many working class towns, has been devastated as blue-collar jobs disappeared. About one-quarter of the kids Kristof grew up with have died in adulthood from drugs, alcohol, suicide, or reckless accidents. “We wanted to understand more deeply what had happened to Nick’s friends on the school bus,” they write, and “how our country could have let tens of millions of people suffer an excruciating loss of jobs, dignity, lives, hopes, and children.”

Reporting for the book took Kristof and WuDunn to all 50 states, and they tell stories of struggling Americans across the country, ranging from the Dakotas and Oklahoma to New York and Virginia. Altogether, there emerges a picture of working-class families needlessly but profoundly damaged as a result of decades of policy mistakes. With their superb, nuanced reportage, Kristof and WuDunn — the first husband-and-wife team to share a Pulitzer Prize for journalism — have given us a book that is both riveting and impossible to ignore.

Price includes a copy of Kristof and WuDunn’s Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope. Books distributed at event.

Newmark Theatre : Upcoming Events

Newmark
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Portland Choir & Orchestra presents their Visions of Christmas concert at the Portland'5 Newmark...

Showing: 12/02 - 12/02
Newmark
O Christmas Tea title art and photo of James and Jamesy

James and Jamesy present O Christmas Tea: A British Comedy at the Portland'5 Newmark Theatre on...

Showing: 12/03 - 12/03
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Portland Gay Men’s Chorus presents their Make the Yuletide Gay holiday concert at the Portland'5 Newmark...

Showing: 12/08 - 12/10
Newmark
Photo of Jimmy Carr wearing a suit with name, tour name, date, venue in text

Live Nation presents comedian Jimmy Carr: Terribly Funny at the Portland'5 Newmark Theatre on Thursday,...

Showing: 12/14 - 12/14
Newmark
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Open Space presents their unconventional winter dance show, NOT-Cracker in the Portland'5 Newmark...

Showing: 12/16 - 12/17
Newmark
Rocky Mountain High Experience image of Rick Schuler as John Denver

Rocky Mountain High Experience: A John Denver Christmas plays at the Newmark Theatre Friday, December 22,...

Showing: 12/22