''Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt'' is a 2012

illustrated An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

non-fiction book authored by

Chris Hedges Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, author, commentator and Presbyterian minister. In his early career, Hedges worked as a freelance war correspondent in Central America for ''The Christian Science Monit ...

and illustrated by

Joe Sacco Joe Sacco (; born October 2, 1960) is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is credited as the first artist to practice rigorous, investigative journalism using the comics form, also referred to as comics journalism. His groundbrea ...

, chronicling life in poverty in different parts of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Structure

The book captures daily life in regions facing 'destruction or revolt', in five sections corresponding with different ecological sacrifice zones: # Days of Theft – Pine Ridge, South Dakota # Days of Siege – Camden, New Jersey # Days of Devastation – Welch, West Virginia # Days of Slavery – Immokalee, Florida # Days of Revolt – Liberty Square, New York City Interspersed with interviews from several individuals, as well as monographs that capture the devastation caused to people and the environment, the book investigates ramifications of unchecked post-industrial free market capitalism in the United States.

Reception

A review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' by

Philipp Meyer Philipp Meyer (born May 3, 1974) is an American fiction writer, and is the author of the novels '' American Rust'' and '' The Son'', as well as short stories published in ''The New Yorker'' and other places. Meyer also created and produced the A ...

was generally positive, and especially praised Sacco's illustrations and storytelling. Meyer was more critical of Hedges' contributions, describing his writings as "brilliant at depicting human life at the extremes of existence" but similar in tone to a "high priest." Both Meyer and a separate review by anarchist writer Kristian Williams negatively received the final chapter, which covered the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

. Williams' review was otherwise positive. ''Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt'' received positive reviews in NJ.com and ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

''.

References

2012 non-fiction books Books about poverty Books critical of capitalism Books by Chris Hedges Nation Books books {{social-science-book-stub