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lizakessler's review against another edition
5.0
This felt much more relevant to me than Hillbilly Elegy. I wasn't able to finish all the essays and poems before returning the book back for someone else to take out of the library, but I intend to purchase a copy myself.
8little_paws's review against another edition
4.0
A mostly solid collection of poetry, short story, and essay around the theme of the title. I admit, I couldn't connect with all the material and tie it back to the theme. Two essays in particular stood out--Kiese Laymon's on academia, and Eula Biss's on white debt.
pestoimbroglio's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
snowcrash's review against another edition
4.0
I love OR books, as they get me to think, challenging my world view. This compilation of essays, stories and poetry lays bare the part of America that is underserved and unloved. The stories here are perfect parallels to the headlines of today.
It is at times difficult to read, as the authors know how to bring the feeling of the downtrodden to the reader. As a society, we have failed. That is the only way I can see to explain the rift that is breaking America into pieces.
How can we fix it? Offering night school is great, but if the person interested is already working two jobs just to subsist, then nothing will change. The story about a boy able to attend the "rich high school" through a diversity program is quite telling. As my department chair told me, we are all capable. He thought that. So long as you applied yourself, he'd teach you computer engineering. But if the student is at a school that can't help change the negative way of thinking, then those kids will end up nowhere.
Read the book to get a better sense of the people at the opposite end of the 1%.
It is at times difficult to read, as the authors know how to bring the feeling of the downtrodden to the reader. As a society, we have failed. That is the only way I can see to explain the rift that is breaking America into pieces.
How can we fix it? Offering night school is great, but if the person interested is already working two jobs just to subsist, then nothing will change. The story about a boy able to attend the "rich high school" through a diversity program is quite telling. As my department chair told me, we are all capable. He thought that. So long as you applied yourself, he'd teach you computer engineering. But if the student is at a school that can't help change the negative way of thinking, then those kids will end up nowhere.
Read the book to get a better sense of the people at the opposite end of the 1%.
sherylk's review against another edition
4.0
This might be one of those, "if you only read one book this year" books - in that it truly captures what is going on in America today. Not my America, of $5 lattes, but of people struggling to make ends meet, facing deep questions about identity, and many other important things taking place right now. I noticed this book in Denver's Tattered Cover bookstore, and seeing that it included writing by Ann Patchett, Roxane Gay, and Rebecca Solnit was enough to convince me. After reading it, I found many, many more wonderful authors sharing their stories and those of others, and I learned a lot.
otterno11's review against another edition
4.0
This is a diverse collection of essays, short stories, and poems that reflect upon the current state of extreme disparity in the United States, where the tiny percentage enjoy staggering wealth while the vast majority get by with less and many with nothing at all. The inequality endemic in American culture is evident but a lot of people - especially the white, the privileged, the naive - seem hesitant to really engage with the racial, economic, environmental, and political injustice that plagues our nation.
The essays here, some original, some collected from various other publications, while perhaps not delving too deeply into politics, are good introductions to the viewpoints of many vulnerable groups in our societies. As these prominent writers explore issues of racism, immigration, homelessness, poverty, work and gender from the perspectives of rural and urban, north and south, across ethnic and religious backgrounds, the reader gets a broad view of the US.
Most interestingly, the novelists Karen Russell and Claire Vaye Watkins each wrote gripping personal essays, the former about homelessness in Portland and the latter her childhood squatting on public land in the Mojave, while Roxane Gay’s short story set in rural Michigan was among the strongest in the book. The most compelling, to me, were the journalistic “Death by Gentrification” discussing gentrification and police brutality in San Francisco by Rebecca Solnit and Patricia Engel’s portrait of Miami, “La Ciudad Mágica.” Eula Biss’ essay on “White Debt” and Chris Offutt’s “Trash Food” were also interesting, though not without flaws. All in all, each piece offers much food for thought if not an in depth discussion on current affairs.
Most interestingly, the novelists Karen Russell and Claire Vaye Watkins each wrote gripping personal essays, the former about homelessness in Portland and the latter her childhood squatting on public land in the Mojave, while Roxane Gay’s short story set in rural Michigan was among the strongest in the book. The most compelling, to me, were the journalistic “Death by Gentrification” discussing gentrification and police brutality in San Francisco by Rebecca Solnit and Patricia Engel’s portrait of Miami, “La Ciudad Mágica.” Eula Biss’ essay on “White Debt” and Chris Offutt’s “Trash Food” were also interesting, though not without flaws. All in all, each piece offers much food for thought if not an in depth discussion on current affairs.
The essays here, some original, some collected from various other publications, while perhaps not delving too deeply into politics, are good introductions to the viewpoints of many vulnerable groups in our societies. As these prominent writers explore issues of racism, immigration, homelessness, poverty, work and gender from the perspectives of rural and urban, north and south, across ethnic and religious backgrounds, the reader gets a broad view of the US.
Most interestingly, the novelists Karen Russell and Claire Vaye Watkins each wrote gripping personal essays, the former about homelessness in Portland and the latter her childhood squatting on public land in the Mojave, while Roxane Gay’s short story set in rural Michigan was among the strongest in the book. The most compelling, to me, were the journalistic “Death by Gentrification” discussing gentrification and police brutality in San Francisco by Rebecca Solnit and Patricia Engel’s portrait of Miami, “La Ciudad Mágica.” Eula Biss’ essay on “White Debt” and Chris Offutt’s “Trash Food” were also interesting, though not without flaws. All in all, each piece offers much food for thought if not an in depth discussion on current affairs.
Most interestingly, the novelists Karen Russell and Claire Vaye Watkins each wrote gripping personal essays, the former about homelessness in Portland and the latter her childhood squatting on public land in the Mojave, while Roxane Gay’s short story set in rural Michigan was among the strongest in the book. The most compelling, to me, were the journalistic “Death by Gentrification” discussing gentrification and police brutality in San Francisco by Rebecca Solnit and Patricia Engel’s portrait of Miami, “La Ciudad Mágica.” Eula Biss’ essay on “White Debt” and Chris Offutt’s “Trash Food” were also interesting, though not without flaws. All in all, each piece offers much food for thought if not an in depth discussion on current affairs.
kawai's review against another edition
4.0
Timely, eclectic, thought-provoking. It’s an anthology with a purpose, to mine the inequality that is the ever-present reality of America. So many good pieces in here, from Claire Vaye Watkins to Kristin Valdez Quade to a million others. Well worth it.