LibGuides: One Book Community Read: Heartland: Author & Book

one book community read - heartland by sarah smarsh

If you’re working towards a deeper understanding of our ruptured country, then Sarah Smarsh’s memoir and examination of poverty in the American heartland is an essential read. Smarsh chronicles her childhood on the poverty line in Kansas in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and the marginalization of people based on their income. When did earning less mean a person was worth less?"
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Heartland by Sarah Smarsh
Call Number: HD 8073 .S637 A3 2018
An eye-opening memoir of working-class poverty in America that will deepen our understanding of the ways in which class shapes our country.

CCAC | Carnegie Library

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Better World Books

From Arts Midwest, watch Sarah Smarsh discuss Heartland, chosen as part of the NEA's Big Read.

Sarah Smarsh
Sarah Smarsh is a journalist who has covered socioeconomic class, politics and public policy for The New York Times, The Atlantic, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Harper’s and many other publications. Her first book, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, was an instant New York Times bestseller, a finalist for the National Book Award.
Longreads: An Interview with Sarah Smarsh, Author of ‘Heartland’
The author of Heartland, a National Book Award longlisted memoir about growing up poor in rural America, gives her views on politics, identity, and cultural appropriation.
NPR: She Thought Her Family Was Middle Class, Not Broke In The Richest Country On Earth
Listen to the NPR audio of Smarsh talking about how her family story reflects the wider story of inequality and poverty in America.
She Grew Up Poor on a Kansas Farm. Her Memoir Is an Attempt to Understand Why.
The New York Times book review provides context and insight into the author and her story.