Squatters

Photos

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Slab City: Dispatches from the Last Free Place/MIT Press
Slab City: Dispatches from the Last Free Place/MIT Press
Slab City: Dispatches from the Last Free Place/MIT Press

Out in the California desert, on the site of an abandoned military base, you'll find Slab City, where a mix of full-time squatters and transient retirees in RVs live without immediate access to either the electric grid or formal government. In Slab City: Dispatches from the Last Free Place (MIT Press), author Charlie Hailey and photographer Donovan Wylie explore the site, from the volunteer-run library to the informal swap-dump-or-recycle center called Slab Mart. And the homes: jerry-rigged places for people who value both the right to express themselves and the right to be left alone.