There's No Place Like Home: Humanity and the Housing Crisis

Invisible Cities is a novel by Italo Calvino that defies traditional narrative structures. The book revolves around the conversations between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, where Polo describes 55 imaginary cities he encountered during his travels. These cities are not just physical places but also metaphors for human experiences, desires, and the passage of time. The novel explores themes of memory, place, and the subjective nature of experience, highlighting how our perceptions of cities and the world are shaped by our personal histories and biases. The cities described by Polo are often reflections of his home city, Venice, and serve as vehicles for Calvino's commentary on human nature, culture, and the limits of communication[1][3][4].

In this memoir, Jesse Thistle chronicles his difficult upbringing, including being abandoned by his parents as a toddler, placed in the foster care system, and later cared for by his paternal grandparents. Thistle details his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, petty crime, and homelessness, as well as his journey towards redemption through education and reconnecting with his Indigenous culture. The book is an honest and fearless account of his painful past, the abuse he endured, and his ultimate triumph over adversity.