Summary of Heartland
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Qualities
- Eye Opening
- Hot Topic
- Engaging
Recommendation
“You got what you worked for, we believed. There was some truth to that. But it was not the whole truth.” So says Sarah Smarsh, who grew up in a family of working poor people in Wichita and rural Kansas in a country known for affluence and opportunity. In this beautifully crafted, timely and stirring memoir of living below the poverty line, Smarsh explores the cultural forces driving America’s socioeconomics, drawing from her experiences and those of her extended family. Hers is a candid look at the myth of the American Dream, the hard facts of economic inequality and society’s disdain for the poor.
About the Author
Journalist and author Sarah Smarsh, a former Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, now lives in Kansas. She speaks frequently on economic inequality.