A review by aderogat
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

4.0

This book was really interesting and I recommend reading it. When you have very strongly held beliefs, it can be very difficult to look across what the author refers to as the "empathy wall" to try and understand why someone holds the views they do. The author does a good job representing the views of people who are part of the Tea party and why they feel the way they do. By telling the story of individuals, rather than just presenting the views of a group, the authors humanizes the individuals and allows the reader to set aside their own views for a moment to consider her argument. The book does get a little redundant as academic books tend to when a strong argument is being made. I think this book is important for everyone to read because Dr. Hochschild really reminds us that behind someone's political views is an actual person and only when we remember this and approach political issues with empathy and understanding can we work together to find shared political ground and improve the future.