Wow. The Lost and the Found by Kevin Fagan was an incredibly profound, heartbreaking, yet hopeful read—offering a glimpse into humanity and the underbelly of cities that most shy away from.

When discussing the epidemic of homelessness, it would be easy to focus solely on the facts or to shy away from the harsh realities, bit Fagan approaches everything with clear eyes and an open heart. It's reflective in how he talks about all the folks he met on the street—Rita, Tyson, Little Bit, Tommy, ect ect.

The Lost and the Found weaves stories from the homeless people he met on the street and the story easily with the facts and efforts made to find solutions to the crisis—and the how and why of why these solutions aren't working. There's grace and humanity in every chapter and even as someone who feels like I have compassion and understanding for homeless in America, Fagan calls on us to give even more.

Though heartbreaking and difficult to read, this is a book that everyone should read. It's so important.

The Lost and the Found by Kevin Fagan gives the real, unfiltered story of life on the streets of San Francisco. Fagan is a journalist who tells the stories of Tyson and Rita, who each live day by day struggling with addiction and being homeless. Homeless people are often not seen as real people, they are dismissed as a problem or disturbance. Fagan gives them a voice to tell their story. Many of us never take the opportunity to listen or see them for who they are.

I recommend this book for nonfiction readers who want to understand more fully how a person can end up at the lowest of the low. This book is also about how one can overcome addiction and find a new path in life. Addiction and mental illness are not addressed in our country as treatable conditions and both contribute to many lives lost to the streets. This book explores how people survive and die on the streets of one of the most expensive places to live in America.

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

The Lost and the Found is a true story of homelessnes, found family, and second chances by Kevin Fagan.
A touching and hopeful read that really opened my eyes a lot.
TLatF is an interesting story about the life of homeless people on the streets of San Francisco.

Rita and Tyson had something in common: They both had families who loved them. And they had something else in common: They were both living homeless in San Francisco. Different backgrounds had led them both to struggle with drug use, which in turn had led to the streets, and so it goes.

Fagan's "The Lost and the Found" tells their stories in some depth, based on months of in-depth, on-the-streets reportage—one of Fagan's particular interests as a reporter—and then years of follow-up with both Rita and Tyson. This ends up being both a general overview of homelessness in the US (and the policies that hurt, and those that help) and a compassionate, in-depth portrait of two of the people affected.

"Being homeless in a big city, even with a lot of pals around, actually takes a lot of work. Not having a home to go to means every night is a coin toss, hoping someone won't cave in your teeth with a boot just to steal whatever you have in your pockets. You can find your regular haunts, and if you're lucky, you wind up at some place like Homeless Island—but even then it means putting up the tent or tarp or cardboard, arranging the shopping carts like a wall, or finding blankets to replace the ones ripped off while you were off copping dope." (loc. 793*)

This is reportage built on a long-haul project and slowly built trust. Fagan could have spent most of his time doing independent research and only interviewed people affected by homelessness for the sake of quotes, but this is a much stronger book for the time and effort he put into building relationships. In places I think the book leans a little heavily on foreshadowing and sentimentality, though perhaps that's an inherent risk of doing work where you get to know and care about your subjects.

In addition to telling these specific stories—and touching on some of the stories of other people living on San Francisco's streets—Fagan delves into some of the hows and whys of the extensive homeless population in San Francisco, and what interventions have and have not been effective to get people off the streets and into more stable housing. It's not a primer on homelessness, but it's useful context for those hoping to learn a bit more in the context of personal stories. Overall, a very thoughtful read.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are from an ARC and might not be final.

🔑The Lost and the Found-A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family, and Second Chances-By Kevin Fagan, publishing February 11th, 2025.

Award winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee Kevin Fagan tackles the homelessness epidemic in San Francisco. Fagan, a journalist, has written on homelessness, and been homeless himself. The story tackles some of the issues and problems faced with addressing homelessness, addiction and mental health. Fagan’s story is about Rita, and Tyson, two individuals who were living on the streets of San Francisco. Following a story about homelessness, where Fagan connected with these two, family members reach out in order to connect with their loved ones.

What follows is an honest, raw look at how people on the streets cope, and survive. When I saw the cover for this book, I knew I had to read it. Non-fiction book about homelessness and second chances. Yes, please. How do people become homeless? Drugs? Mental Illness? Trauma? Family break down?

I loved Fagan’s no nonsense approach. He’s honest, and full of empathy.
As a social worker, I have worked in programs with a HOUSING FIRST approach. It works. House people, and then provide wrap around supports for everything else needed. Fagan outlines how the city has done that, but the population of people living on the streets outweighed the demand and money. Even with drop-in centers, rehabs, clinics etc… the demand is too high to put a dent in the thousands living on the streets everyday.
Fagan also does a great job showing the support and lengths families go to support their loved ones.

This is a perfect companion book to Matthew Desmond’s Evicted. If you have read Desmond’s books, this is a must read. February 11TH, 2025!

Thanks and high fives to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the ARC.

Extremely eye-opening and raw, but still human. This was brilliantly researched and put together to portray a truly human story of homelessness in San Francisco. This changed my perspective on so many aspects of life as someone who is unhoused and I appreciate the author for it.

4.5⭐️s (rounding up) — Few words to describe this book: informative, hopeful, genuine, tragic ~ The Lost and the Found details homelessness from a first-hand perspective. Kevin Fagan, a San Francisco journalist, takes to the streets, talking to those out there about the hardship they face, day to day, and what can be done to change this for people in San Francisco and beyond. Kevin follows Rita and Tyson in depth after meeting them on the streets. He shares their upbringings, homelessness, and all that follows, shedding light on how homelessness can affect anybody. You can tell that Kevin is deeply passionate about what he does, which makes this that much better of a read. This is a must-read to get a glimpse into what homelessness can be like in the United States.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This is Kevin Fagan's memoir focused on two individuals struggling with addiction who he met while reporting on the homelessness situation in San Francisco. This book was really eye-opening - the author did a great job of explaining the history or homelessness in San Fran while remaining incredibly empathetic and unbiased. I've never read any of Kevin Fagan's journalism, but based on this book, I'm sure he's fantastic. I wanted better for Terry. Addiction is a terrible disease.

I think that this is a book that will stick with anyone who chooses to read it. Well done.

Over the past few years, I’ve developed a keen interest in homelessness - both in terms of the forces that cause people to become displaced and also the experiences of the unhoused.

This was a visceral, eye-opening, poignant, touching and intimate look at the experiences of the unhoused through the life stories of 2 different individuals. Kevin Fagan is an exceptional journalist, ingratiating himself into the unhoused community in a manner that wasn’t contrived or exploitative. This was a look into homelessness that I have never seen before

So often, unhoused people are demonized. They’re labeled as lazy, destructive and a burden on society. Fagan tests that narrative by humanizing homelessness and offering the sobering reality that homelessness can happen to anyone. These are people who are loved and as deserving of good opportunities like the rest of us.

Being from Seattle, a city suffering the weight of homelessness much like San Francisco, I want everyone in my life and area to read this. Maybe if we empathize more with the unhoused community, we’ll be more inclined to do something.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books | Atria/One Signal Publishers for this ARC for review. This was an interesting book about homelessness in the San Francisco, CA, one of the most expensive cities in the US. The author speaks to numerous homeless people in his writing of this book and focuses on 2 people in particular and their stories, but he speaks on the many reasons for homelessness in this country and the many different issues facing people who live on the streets.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book.

The Lost and the Found really sheds light onto the homeless population and how they are essentially ignored in the US. The author has been following the situation in San Francisco for many years and approaches this topic with kindness and empathy.

Our country does not do enough for the homeless and this book sheds light on that. The author does a great job of digging into the unhoused culture and shares a lot about two particular people and their journeys. I will certainly think differently the next time I see someone “signing” along the highway.

The Lost and the Found is an exceptional book that takes readers onto the streets of San Francisco where the homeless reside. It is a powerful and eye-opening look at how long the homeless situation has continued in the city and what is being done to fix it.

Fagan is a reporter who writes with compassion and empathy. He befriended the homeless and joined them in conversations about themselves and their lives on the SF streets. At the heart of his book are two people, Tyson and Rita. The author gives their backstories and connects with family members to assist in getting them off the streets. It was heartwrenching and emotional to read about how they got to where they ended up and what they both went through while living on their own in poverty, powerless, and drug-addicted.

The author's writing style sucked me in immediately. He writes candidly in a familiar way making you feel like you are right there with him experiencing it all. This is a book that will stay with readers. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to read and review this ARC.