Jeff Hobbs is a Non-Fiction Storyteller

The Book Case

ABC News

Fiction, Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.1 • 766 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jeff Hobbs is a best-selling author, but the way he listens to his subjects and retells their stories brings a deeply human perspective to really difficult topics. His newest, Seeking Shelter, is the story of homelessness told through the eyes of Evelyn, a devoted and fierce mother of six, determined to keep her kids out of the welfare system. Jeff spent hundreds of hours talking to Evelyn and her kids about surviving the streets as a family (though not unscathed). Jeff is a compelling storyteller, a thoughtful author, and his subjects trust him with some of the toughest moments of their lives. Tune in to find out why. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America by Jeff Hobbs The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System by Jeff Hobbs Show Them You’re Good: A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels the Year Before College by Jeff Hobbs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome book casers. It is Thursday. As a matter of fact, if you're listening on the day of our release, it is Thursday the 13th. We probably caught you Valentine's Day cramming, shoving those big cards into the envelopes, dressing like,, I don't think anybody really crams for Valentine's Day.
0:22.1	Will you be my Valentine, Kate?
0:23.9	Will you be my Valentine?
0:26.2	Well, say yes.
0:27.9	Okay, yes.
0:28.7	Yeah, good.
0:29.2	You've just saved me $5.50 for a card.
0:32.0	We bought cards for all the grandchildren the other day, and I think I had to take out a second mortgage to make it work.
0:37.4	What? This is absurd. grandchildren the other day, and I think I had to take out a second mortgage to make it work.
0:38.5	This is absurd.
0:40.6	We should be in the card business.
0:47.2	The profit margin of Valentine's cards of any greeting cards these days is absurd.
0:48.6	Cranky old man alert.
0:49.9	Yep, that is.
0:51.6	It's a cranky old man alert.
0:52.5	That's exactly right. And also, if you have any of those little tiny
0:55.8	hearts that are so omnipresent around Valentine's Day, keep them to yourself. Neither
1:01.0	Kate nor I want them. What do they taste like, Kate? It's somewhere between Tums and Chalk,
1:06.0	I think. You know, it's just, you know, I don't get it. But each one is covered with a banal
1:10.2	message, so it's okay.
1:11.7	Anyway, this is the bookcase with Kate and Charlie, and we do welcome you.
1:15.1	We wish you have a happy Valentine's Day, and we have a double-barreled show for you today.
	...

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