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Nearly every job application asks if the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime. For the hundreds of thousands of young men leaving American prisons each year, their answer can significantly impact their ability to find work and rebuild their lives. This book presents an innovative field experiment that reveals the immense challenges ex-offenders face in the job market. The author matched pairs of young men, assigned them criminal records, and sent them on numerous job searches in Milwaukee. Despite being attractive, articulate, and capable, ex-offenders received less than half the callbacks of similarly qualified applicants without criminal backgrounds. Young black men faced even greater challenges; those with clean records had no better job prospects than white men just released from prison. These shocking barriers to legitimate employment contribute to many ex-prisoners returning to poverty, underground work, and crime. The author uses scholarly and field research, along with graphics, to illustrate the bleak job prospects for ex-offenders, regardless of race. This work is both informative and compelling, offering a profound sociological insight into the struggles of reintegration into society.