Peter Lovenheim Wins Zócalo Public Square Book Prize

In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time by Peter Lovenheim is this year’s winner of the $5,000 Zócalo Public Square Book Prize. The award is given out to “the book that most effectively—and most creatively, strikingly, or enjoyably—enhances our understanding of community.” Lovenheim’s book deals with the community reaction to a murder-suicide in his Rochester, New York neighborhood. Realizing that most of the people in his neighborhood were complete strangers to him, Lovenheim decided to spend one night in each of their homes.