Bone of the Bone

Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class

By: Sarah Smarsh

Narrated by: Sarah Smarsh

Now collected for the first time in one volume, the brilliant and provocative essays that established National Book Award finalist Sarah Smarsh as one of the most important commentators on socioeconomic class in America—featuring a previously unpublished essay and a new introduction.

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.

Compiling Smarsh’s reportage and more poetic reflections, 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.

©2024 Sarah Smarsh (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Outstanding

I think Sarah holds the keys to understanding rural America. And therefore the key to creating a progressive America.

Thought Provoking

Smarsh offers a valuable perspective on assumptions around the working class, classism in the United States and the current political climate.

Beautiful, meaningful and heart-breaking

This book covers a wide swath of American life and critiques the way our country has marginalized so many different kids of people.
It is clear-eyed in its discussion of inequities, inequality, and even cruelty, ranging from education, politics, the so-called urban/rural divide (among others), the environment and animal rights. She witheringly refutes stereotypes that serve only to demean. Smarsh’s analysis is always nuanced and precise. She examines her own life and family just as honestly and compassionately as her discussion of the many harms various institutions inflict upon so many members of our society by focusing specifically but not exclusively upon the rural poor and working classes. While serious and insightful, it is not depressing. It is a gem of a book, much like her first book Heartland.

A little confusion

When you get to the end, you’ll see the whole story backwards. Sarah feels like the narcissist.

A must read

I grew up in western Kansas and moved to Wichita my junior year so both of Sarah’s books are relatable to my own life experiences and beliefs. I have camped at Cheney Lake many times in the Smarsh Creek campground that has a small clear natural spring that flows into the lake. I now imagine her playing there as a child, narrating a story in her head that kept her entertained and playing until it was dark and time to go home. I would like to meet her someday.

Insightful and delightful storytelling

It’s a n autobiographical portrait of poverty discrimination in American society and culture. With superb storytelling Sarah Smarsh opens a window into what she calls ‘liberal blind spots’, or the prevailing narratives in our culture, including the ‘moral superiority bias’ exercised by coastal affluent Americans, that perpetuates looking down on the poor, and the class warfare that is undermining the American Dream. Marsh, a total insider, points out the typical assumptions about political leanings of the white working class by mainstream media and how they distort reality perpetuating discrimination.

Relatable

I was drawn to this book because I totally related to the author, being an educated working class woman myself. One rarely hears the discussions that are presented in her essays even though these same types of stories go through my head continuously. I liked her voice very much. Some of the essays were repetitive and I wished the essays as a whole could have been edited so that wouldn’t be the case. The book was definitely dated politically and I wonder what she would be saying today as Trump approaches his next term. All said, this is a great book on a topic that is very important especially now in America, where the working class is demanding agency. I appreciate having read this book.

Very insightful

Sarah's stories provide a look into a segment of America that is often overlooked in political discourse. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking perspective on the American working class.

Ugh. Great story line until it became a political statement. No need to read anything else from this author.

This was great until it became a negative political piece. I told several people they needed to read this after the first quarter of the book. Uninvited politically driven commentary disconnected from the social fabric of our state that gave her opportunity. Had to call them all and say NEVERMIND.