{"product_id":"book-dptf","title":"Mill Town","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"\u003c\/b\u003eThis is a listen for anyone interested in small-town America, how it's changed, and why it matters…Though Arsenault may not be a professional narrator, her passion for these important stories comes through with just the right amount of sincerity.\" - \u003ci\u003eAudioFile Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis program is read by the author.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA galvanizing and powerful debut, \u003ci\u003eMill Town\u003c\/i\u003e is an American story, a human predicament, and a moral wake-up call that asks: what are we willing to tolerate and whose lives are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKerri Arsenault grew up in the rural working class town of Mexico, Maine. For over 100 years the community orbited around a paper mill that employs most townspeople, including three generations of Arsenault's own family. Years after she moved away, Arsenault realized the price she paid for her seemingly secure childhood. The mill, while providing livelihoods for nearly everyone, also contributed to the destruction of the environment and the decline of the town's economic, physical, and emotional health in a slow-moving catastrophe, earning the area the nickname \"Cancer Valley.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMill Town \u003c\/i\u003eis an personal investigation, where Arsenault sifts through historical archives and scientific reports, talks to family and neighbors, and examines her own childhood to illuminate the rise and collapse of the working-class, the hazards of loving and leaving home, and the ambiguous nature of toxics and disease. \u003ci\u003eMill Town\u003c\/i\u003e is a moral wake-up call that asks, \u003ci\u003eWhose lives are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"While this is a portrait of a town in decline, it's also a paean to the community that cared for it and those who have remained there, including Arsenault's own classmates, friends, and family. The author's unusually quiet, tender reading evinces that love, while also clearly setting that affection against the brutality of the forces that have laid Mexico low.\" - \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Audio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49370005111088,"sku":"BDdptf","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/dptf-Square-cover.jpg?v=1782404962","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-dptf","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}