Washington Post
‘’In The Shame Game, O’Hara dips into her own life to explore poverty and how it’s portrayed in the United States and Britain.’’ Washington Post
From the Publisher
Given the tsunami of economic insecurity unleashed by Covid-19, we have an unprecedented opportunity to further challenge the toxic narratives O’Hara so effectively skewers here.” Prospect Magazine
"An exceptional book...a must read and so relevant to the times we are living in now" Nursing Times
View Digital
"A welcome addition to all those who reject the ‘toxic poverty narrative’. . . . Detailed, hard-hitting and thoughtful. . . . We need books such as The Shame Game to remind ourselves that being poor is not a self-choice but something that is inflicted by those who hold the levers of power and wealth.
actor and activist Jameela Jamil
A necessary book in divisive times.
The Washington Post
The Shame Game illuminates the disparagement that the poor confront in a prosperous America. . . [and] points to our collective need for better social supports, including cheaper medical care, improved access to education and even periodic government cash giveaways through programs like universal basic income. . . . As O’Hara puts it: “There is a long history of the poorest being shunned and shamed and ‘kept in their place,’ but there is also a history of these practices being challenged with genuine successes. . . . Ultimately, finding solutions to poverty, including ending the blaming and shaming of the poorest among us, rests with all of us.””
author of Hand to Mouth Linda Tirado
Rich people should be required to read this book and poor people should be allowed to. I have rarely seen a more broad and beautiful picture of people who have done more with less than this book. O’Hara has woven a rich tapestry of joy and terror and talent and lost opportunities and the picture she draws is the most comprehensive description of poverty I’ve seen yet.
BAC Beatbox Academy Conrad Murray
O'Hara sees the potential of talent and magic in every kid and every adult. This book explores the absolute travesty of blaming each other.
author of How to Find Home Mahsuda Snaith
In a time of extreme social and economic division, O'Hara lifts the lid on who truly benefits from keeping us divided and how we can flip the script of poverty to make a fairer society for all. A powerful and important book.
Prospect Magazine
It is rare that the central argument of a book is so eerily transformed by events. If it had not been for the coronavirus, Mary O’Hara’s The Shame Game would have been respectfully received and tidily shelved alongside several other stringent assessments of the ugly politics of austerity. . . . In our new world, this reads less a study of them and us, than potentially a book about us all.
VIEW Digital
A welcome addition to all those who reject the ‘toxic poverty narrative’. . . . Detailed, hard-hitting and thoughtful. . . . We need books such as The Shame Game to remind ourselves that being poor is not a self-choice but something that is inflicted by those who hold the levers of power and wealth.
