Peter Kilborn
Next Stop, Reloville: Inside America’s New Rootles Professional Class
(Times Books, June 2009)
From a prize-winning New York Times correspondent, a look at upper-middle-class professionals who relocate from place to place as their jobs transfer them. Next Stop, Reloville follows 12 families for up to four years, studying the impact of these frequent moves. Some families split up, some lose their homes, some choose to simply drop out. A fascinating account of the stress of contemporary corporate culture on individuals, families and society.
Praise for Next Stop Reloville
“Peter T. Kilborn’s Next Stop Reloville documents an important piece of social history…. A fair and well-written chronicle.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Fascinating…. Kilborn shows how… for these modern-day nomads, their lifestyle takes an extraordinary emotional toll.”
—The Washington Post
“An extraordinary account of people who can’t stay put, who sacrifice community and friendship and stability and roots for the next promotion, the next raise, the next move, which they believe takes them one step closer to the top.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Meticulously attributed and balanced observations…. [Kilborn’s] look into a little noted and consequential trend in American life is revealing.”
—The Boston Globe
“A thoughtful exploration of an important phenomenon.”
—Washington Monthly
“Kilborn is a good storyteller, and these accounts… will be heartachingly familiar to any Midwesterner.”
—Lincoln Journal Star
“A skillful storyteller, Kilborn captures the costs and loneliness of the Relo lifestyle.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A solid update on the American rat race… [Kilborn] clearly evokes the rootlessness of [Relo] lives, with… everyone anxious about when the next transfer will come.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Next Stop, Reloville combines first-rate storytelling and sharp analysis… A must-read.”
—Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation
“A fascinating account of a new type of transient worker in America, affluent in their material lives but impoverished in their community ties.”
—Stephanie Coontz, author of Marriage, A History
“In this sympathetic and arresting portrait… Kilborn takes the Willy Lomans of the present age and weeps for them.”
—Rev. Paul F. M. Zahl, author of Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life
Peter T. Kilborn was a reporter for The New York Times for thirty years, having covered business, economics, social issues, and the workplace. He was also one of the contributors to the Times’s award-winning series and book Class Matters. Kilborn is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, and was a Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. Starting out in Rhode Island, he became a Relo himself with stints in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, London, Miami, and Washington. He and his wife Susan live in Maryland.