The Man in the Dog Park

Coming Up Close to Homelessness

By: Cathy A. Small, Jason Kordosky - contributor, Ross Moore - contributor

Narrated by: Karen White

The Man in the Dog Park offers the listener a rare window into homeless life. Spurred by a personal relationship with a homeless man who became her coauthor, Cathy A. Small takes a compelling look at what it means and what it takes to be homeless.

Interviews and encounters with dozens of homeless people lead us into a world that most have never seen. We travel as an intimate observer into the places that many homeless frequent, including a community shelter, a day-labor agency, a panhandling corner, a pawn shop, and a HUD housing office. Through these personal stories, we witness the obstacles that homeless people face and the ingenuity it takes to negotiate life without a home.

The Man in the Dog Park points to the ways that our own cultural assumptions and blind spots are complicit in US homelessness and contribute to the degree of suffering that homeless people face. At the same time, Small, Kordosky, and Moore show us how our own sense of connection and compassion can bring us into touch with the actions that will lessen homelessness and bring greater humanity to the experience of those who remain homeless.

The raw emotion of The Man in the Dog Park will forever change your appreciation for, and understanding of, a life so many deal with outside of the limelight of contemporary society.

©2020 Cathy A. Small (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Not what I was expecting, but good.

I think I was expecting more of a fictional story about a writer and a homeless person. This is more factual stats rather than a story. However, they are good facts and, if you aren't already familiar with what these people go through, you should read it it.

I will never see a homeless person in the same way

This sensitive and intimate look into what it is like to be homeless will be eye opening, probably even for those who work with the homeless. The friendship and eventual collaboration between the author and Ross Moore (the man who is homeless) is beautiful, respectful, and offers lessons to all. Without making politics central to the story, Small shows just how central politics are to the plight of the poor. The author's interactions with the homeless community and the growth of her awareness drive the story. Small does not set out to be a role model, but she is one.

A human face on homelessness

There are many pathways to homelessness or the unsheltered. The man and the dog park is a family member
With complex stories and an important read. the hope is that we can become less divided, and have more compassion for each other if we understand the nature of these challenges of lack of resources .