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Mona Chalabi: Ten Lives w/ Jia Tolentino
Past event
Featured Book
Ten Lives: How What We Have Shapes Who We Are
A visually striking exploration of money—and the lack of it—in America told through the lives of ten individuals, from a Pulitzer Prize–winning data journalist and artist
“Astonishing . . . Chalabi’s taboo-busting transparency about peoples’ financial lives is revolutionary enough. But it’s the pellucid clarity of her data visualizations that will really change how you understand capitalism.”—Alison Bechdel, bestselling author of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Anna has a comfortable life in a mansion in Maine thanks to her husband (well, his parents, really) until he suddenly asks for a divorce. In Arizona, Hunter is a U.S. veteran, feeling ashamed about claiming disability benefits. Then there’s Levi, who is trying to pay off his debts from a gambling addiction, one social media video at a time. And Christian, stifled by his job at an Amazon warehouse before a union-organizing effort offers a way out for his comrades and his young kids. Ten people, ten different incomes, all of them afraid for their futures.
For five years, data journalist Mona Chalabi followed them all, documenting how wealth shaped their feelings, their choices, their identities, and their insecurities. She researched the data behind their taxes, groceries, inheritances, and so much more to understand the systems that keep people stuck. But then, she too found herself facing the same fears, when her mother’s sudden illness and subsequent medical bills threatened her own financial safety and made the questions she had been writing about all too real. How much money is enough? To live a “good” life? To protect the people you love in an emergency?
Interweaving her own story with those of her interviewees and illustrated throughout with the data visualizations for which Chalabi is renowned, Ten Lives asks how much wealth it takes to be safe in the United States. It explores how difficult it is for us to be honest and open about what we have and argues that until we get better at it, we will never be able to address the underlying problems that drive inequality and insecurity for us all.
This book will be available for purchase at the event.
About This Event
A visually striking exploration of money—and the lack of it—in America told through the lives of ten individuals, from a Pulitzer Prize–winning data journalist and artist. Anna has a comfortable life in a mansion in Maine thanks to her husband (well, his parents, really) until he suddenly asks for a divorce. In Arizona, Hunter is a U.S. veteran, feeling ashamed about claiming disability benefits. Then there’s Levi, who is trying to pay off his debts from a gambling addiction, one social media video at a time. And Christian, stifled by his job at an Amazon warehouse before a union-organizing effort offers a way out for his comrades and his young kids. Ten people, ten different incomes, all of them afraid for their futures. For five years, data journalist Mona Chalabi followed them all, documenting how wealth shaped their feelings, their choices, their identities, and their insecurities. She researched the data behind their taxes, groceries, inheritances, and so much more to understand the systems that keep people stuck. But then, she too found herself facing the same fears, when her mother’s sudden illness and subsequent medical bills threatened her own financial safety and made the questions she had been writing about all too real. How much money is enough? To live a “good” life? To protect the people you love in an emergency? Interweaving her own story with those of her interviewees and illustrated throughout with the data visualizations for which Chalabi is renowned, Ten Lives asks how much wealth it takes to be safe in the United States. It explores how difficult it is for us to be honest and open about what we have and argues that until we get better at it, we will never be able to address the underlying problems that drive inequality and insecurity for us all. Mona Chalabi is an award-winning writer and illustrator. Her work has earned her a Pulitzer Prize, an honorary fellowship at the British Science Association, an Emmy nomination, a fellowship from New America, and recognition from the Royal Statistical Society. In recent years, her art has been exhibited at the Tate, the Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum. Her writing and illustrations have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The Guardian. Jia Tolentino is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror.
Event guidelines: Additional copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. A signing line will follow the talk. As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event, even if you have a ticket; email us and we'll work it out. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact eventhelp@booksaremagic.net.
Featured Author
Chalabi, Mona
Mona Chalabi is an award-winning writer and illustrator. Her work has earned her a Pulitzer Prize, an honorary fellowship at the British Science Association, an Emmy nomination, a fellowship from New America, and recognition from the Royal Statistical Society. In recent years, her art has been exhibited at the Tate, the Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum. Her writing and illustrations have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The Guardian.
In Conversation With
Jia Tolentino
Jia Tolentino is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror.
About the Venue
First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn
Presented by Books are Magic · Brooklyn Heights
119 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
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