Maggie

This story looks into the dark underworld of poverty, examining how it grinds human beings under its cruel heel. Think: drunkards, fistfights, prostitutes, and death. It's like the original reality television-minus all the scripts and private jets-as we watch our main girl Maggie's life go from rotten to wretched to, well, non-existent. She's doomed from the beginning, thanks to the poverty she's been born into. Ugh. With its tough-love approach, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets offers a crash course in American Naturalism, Realism, and Impressionism. So bring your own Kleenex, read at your own risk, and above all, don't try this at home.