Matthew DesmondのEvictedの邦訳が出たと聞き、さすが採算度外視の日本語翻訳出版界！と感嘆・感謝するのと同時に、遅っ、と思わざるを得なかった。紹介されないよりはるかにいいし、決してこの本に書かれた貧困の状況が大きく変わったわけではないとはいえ、原書の初刊行は2016年のコロナ前で、各メディアの2010年代のベスト本に挙げられるような仕事なので。
The swirl of work, a million little things regularly interrupted by some big thing, had been encroaching on her Sunday soul food dinner with her mom.
When his sons were at school, Lamar listened to oldies while he cleaned and drank instant coffee with sugar.
The Spam was stacked neatly in its place; the cereal boxes lined up at attention; the cans of soup and beans organized by kind and all forward-facing.
She learned how to cook pots of spaghetti and macaroni salad.
Arleen out for Chinese food, here favorite. She would read the long menu but order the same thing every time: sesame chicken.
Everything in the refrigerator spoiled. The family ate dinners out of cans: ravioli, SpaghettiOs.
Three times a week, a local church delivered sack lunches to the neighborhood. This day, Ruby was the one to spot it. "Lunch truck!" She yelled, bounding outside with the others. The kids returned with a bag for everyone. They passed them out without peeking inside because that would ruin the game. Green apples were swapped for red ones, Fritos for SunChips, apple juice for fruit punch.
"I'll give you two juices," Natasha offered Ruby.
"For an Oreo cake?" Ruby asked. After thinking it over, she shook her head no.
"Ruby, you suck!"
Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American Cityより
最近もう1冊、ええっ、これ邦訳出るの？絶対売れないのにスゴイ！と驚いたのがMary NorrisのGreek to Me。こっちの場合はEvictedよりは時を選ばないが、この著者と内容に興味を持つような対象読者はすでに原書で読んでると思う。
