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Title details for Bone of the Bone by Sarah Smarsh - Available

Bone of the Bone

Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class

by Sarah Smarsh
Sarah Smarsh
Audiobook
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"A must-read for today's politics" (San Francisco Chronicle), the brilliant and provocative essays that established National Book Award finalist Sarah Smarsh as one of the most important commentators on America's class problem are collected in one searing and insightful volume.
In Bone of the Bone, Sarah Smarsh brings her graceful storytelling and incisive critique to the challenges that define our times—class division, political fissures, gender inequality, environmental crisis, media bias, the rural-urban gulf. Smarsh, a journalist who grew up on a wheat farm in Kansas and was the first in her family to graduate from college, has long focused on cultural dissonance that many in her industry neglected until recently. Now, this thought-provoking collection of more than thirty of her highly relevant, previously published essays from the past decade (2013–2024)—ranging from personal narratives to news commentary—demonstrates a life and a career steeped in the issues that affect our collective future.

"A compassionate look at working-class poverty in America" (Time), Bone of the Bone is a singular work covering one of the most tumultuous decades in civic life. Timely, filled with perspective-shifting observations, and a pleasure to read, Sarah Smarsh's essays—on topics as varied as the socioeconomic significance of dentistry, laws criminalizing poverty, fallacies of the "red vs. blue" political framework, working as a Hooters Girl, and much more—are an important addition to any discussion on contemporary America.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 10, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797183206
      • File size: 322210 KB
      • Duration: 11:11:14

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      National Book Award finalist Sarah Smarsh performs a collection of her essays written from 2013-2024. After growing up on a wheat farm in Kansas, Smarsh went on to join academia and found herself writing about her working-class childhood. Drawing connections between such diverse topics as the relationship between socioeconomic status and access to dental care and the fallacies of thinking strictly in terms of red and blue states, Smarsh's essays are full of sharp observations that are as relevant now as when they were first published. Her clear and direct performance draws the listener in from the first moments of the audiobook. Her essays are full of heart, and her narration captures that emotional depth. K.D.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      March 7, 2025

      Journalist and essayist Smarsh (Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth) compiles 36 of her (mostly previously published) essays, including a previously unpublished work that examines overlooked socioeconomic divisions in the United States. Smarsh, who grew up on a Kansas wheat farm and was the first in her family to attend college, recounts her experiences and observations, highlighting the lives of working-class people who contend with poverty, inadequate health care, and a legal system that criminalizes poverty and leaves little room for advancement and success. Smarsh narrates her own work with a somber and reflective tone, conveying her insights into a range of topics, including gender inequality, media bias, the impact of political grandstanding, the environmental, and the seemingly unbridgeable gap between wealth and poverty, urban and rural, conservative and liberal. Smarsh's excellent storytelling, combined with her sharp cultural critique, engages and draws listeners into the emotional heart of each essay while challenging them to reconsider societal norms. VERDICT With its blend of investigative journalism and cultural critique, this must-have audiobook will spark timely conversations. A richly told series of essays, essential for those interested in social justice, politics, and the personal narratives of the working-class United States.--Susan McClellan

      Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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