"The essays in this book originally appeared in Trans-action magazine."

How the white poor live, by M. Pilisuk and P. Pilisuk.--The culture of poverty, by O. Lewis.--Life in Appalachia--the case of Hugh McCaslin, by R. Coles.--Labor waste in New York: rural exploitation and migrant workers, by W. H. Friedland.--The serpent-handling religions of West Virginia, by N. L. Gerrard.--White gangs, by W. B. Miller.--Homeless men, by D. Pittman.--How teachers learn to help children fail, by E. Fuchs.--Becky and the Telegraph Avenue life style, by M. Pilisuk and others.--Medical ghettos, by A. L. Strauss.--The strange case of public dependency, M. Rein.