Review of \u3ci\u3e Waltzing with the Ghost of Tom Joad: Poverty, Myth, and Low-Wage Labor in Oklahoma\u3c/i\u3e by Robert Lee Maril

The Great Plains is home to a range of economic experiences, yet little research has focused on the roles that poor people and poverty have played in society. Constantly, though, the ghost of Tom Joad, John Steinbeck\u27s protagonist in The Grapes of Wrath, has reminded us of the status of the contemporary poor while also embodying the potential for social change. Robert Lee Maril, has produced the first comprehensive analysis of poverty in Oklahoma, the eighth poorest state in the nation, in which he explores myths about the poor and the real causes of poverty, especially low-wage labor. Maril develops a methodological triangulation of research that employs both quantitative and qualitative methods, including random sample surveys, census data, in-depth interviews, and an ethnography of four poor neighborhoods in four different communities