Exploring the lives of a wide range of individuals and families, 'Living on the Edge' depicts a side of the welfare experience rarely seen and dispels the myth that only the urban underclass--the center of most policy debate--struggles on welfare. Rank's juxtaposition of numbers and faces alerts us to the fact that welfare recipients share much in common with the rest of the population. His frank analysis allows us to see beyond the common biases to the fundamental constraints and forces in our society that push so many people to life on the edge.