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In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time by Peter Lovenheim

Tue, 10/05/2010 - 09:03 | Shelley Chick-Gravel
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This title of this book, In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time intrigued me because I have very little contact with my neighbors and have often wondered if other neighborhoods are the same. Peter Lovenheim, the author, is prompted to better understand his neighbors and his neighborhood after one of his neighbors, Dr. Wills, murders his wife and then kills himself. Their two children, who were home at the time, ran to a neighbor’s house for assistance. Although they did not know their neighbors, the children’s mother had the foresight to tell the children if anything bad happened to run to the home across the street for help.

On the day of the murder, Wills’ wife was afraid of her husband and tried to contact her best friend who lived across town, but she was not home. Lovenheim was troubled by the fact that the woman had no one to turn to in her neighborhood for help. He also wants to understand how such a tragic event could have virtually no impact on the neighborhood.
 
Conducting his research by interviewing his neighbors and sleeping in their homes, Lovenheim learns a lot about his neighbors. In the book he selects four families to be representative of his neighborhood. Beginning with his interviews, he develops lasting friendships.
 
Lovenheim suggests that his neighborhood is not unlike other neighborhoods in the United States. How isolated are we? Do you feel you could go to your neighbors for help?