Different Shade Of Gray

Classic works by William Julius Wilson and Alex Kotlowitz have given Americans searing accounts of coming of age amid urban poverty. Now Katherine Newman, Kennedy School professor and author of No Shame in My Game, a book about the working poor that Publishers Weekly called "eye-opening" and "bracingly refreshing, " shifts our attention to the other end of the human life span, offering the first comprehensive look at aging in the inner city.

While recent prosperity has allowed many to enjoy their old age in the comfort of retirement communities, a combination of historical circumstances, personal decisions, and changing public policy have conspired to keep another set of Americans locked in crumbling urban settings to "age in place." How this happened and what it means are the questions at the center of this original and illuminating study.