This is so shocking! I lived though this era as a young white man in California, poor but totally unaware of the inhumane conditions that the book portrays. My ignorance frightens me. I wonder what atrocities still exist in our world today, and what we can do to bring them to an end.
For 30 years it was playing music. Doesn't pay well - it was basically my food budget. I kept at it for 9 years anyway after I retired as a programmer. Some of the gigs were fun, and most of my friends are musicians.