Glass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town

The Anchor Hocking Glass Company, once the world's largest maker of glass tableware, was the base on which Lancaster's society was built. As Glass House unfolds, bankruptcy looms. Meanwhile, Alexander goes behind the scenes, entwined with the lives of residents as they wrestle with heroin, politics, high-interest lenders, low wage jobs, technology, and the new demands of American life: people like Brian Gossett, the fourth generation to work at Anchor Hocking; Joe Piccolo, first-time director of the annual music festival who discovers the town relies on him, and it, for salvation; Jason Roach, who police believed may have been Lancaster's biggest drug dealer; and Eric Brown, a local football hero-turned-cop who comes to realize that he can never arrest Lancaster's real problems.. With access to the company and its leaders, and Lancaster's citizens, Alexan

Richard Stampfle said People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones.. Having grown up in Lancaster, this book is very meaningful to me. I remember what life was like as a child growing up in the Lancaster of the 50's 60's and 70's. Some of the people and places are familiar, and this book brings back memories of my youth: the Fairfield County county fair, Mt. Pleasant and Rising Park, the Sherman House, and the Boy's Industrial School and country club located Hocking Hills. Though, sadly, I didn't see mention of Jimmy's Jaw Breaker, the Farmers and Citizens Bank, the Dairy Queen, Sky View Drive In, or WHO. Depressing and accurate chronicle of the collapse of a great town. I looked forward to this book as someone who grew up in Lancaster, just a couple of years ahead of the author. IMHO, the book catalogs the demise of a great town, but does so with unending detail about the top-end, those behind financial machinations in NYC and elsewhere as people played with Lancaster's largest employer like a pawn in a massive game of chance to make money fast. There is some characterization of how this effected locals, but this seems focused on drug addicts, and people on the "bottom end" of the disaster, the barely . Jb said Worth the read; missed some points. I read this book through three lenses: First and foremost, as someone who grew up in Lancaster, Ohio, and whose immediate family (siblings, nieces/nephews, parents) still live there. I visit at least three times per year. Second, I have concerns about the growing wage gap and looked for a book that, without being condescending or demeaning, showed why and how a man like Trump was elected President. Third and most personally, three immediate family members are represented in the book and I wanted to see what the author had to say about t