The Atlantic ·For the curious
Hard-Luck Men in Hardscrabble Towns
by Mark Oppenheimer
Published 2026-08-08 08:00:00-04:00
When a factory town stops making things, what happens to the men who never leave?
0:00 / 15:13 · Narrator Rasalgethi
Context
For nearly forty years, the novelist Richard Russo has written about guys with bad knees and worse luck, drinking in the bars of hollowed-out American towns. A piece published in The Atlantic on 8 August 2026 uses Russo's latest book to ask a harder question about these shrinking places. The national conversation usually treats them as tragedies full of people waiting to be rescued. The essay suggests a different reality, focusing on the dark humor and quiet dignity of those who choose to stay.