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This is post 2 of 6. It is a kind of book review in which I reveal as much about myself as the book. Okay, I probably talk more about my own thoughts than that of the authors. Sorry. At least I am honest about it. Over the past few months, I have read about four non-fiction books, and it looks like I am dedicating the next four posts to each of them. There was a work of fiction, too, since the New Year. Perhaps I will include that one, too. We shall see.
"Did you hear the one about the kid who wanted to know everything about everything?" Apparently, Sid the Science Kid and I have one thing in common. And, that's ALL we have in common. He was a five-year old in a PBS cartoon from a decade ago; I am a forty-seven year old living in a live-action reality show. But, we are both curious mother-fuckers.
That is why I end up reading more non-fiction than fiction: I want to understand everything. However, I have certain expectations for a non-fiction book. I want it rooted in reality and placed in a larger setting, beyond just personal experiences. The author must be willing to apply scientific and journalistic tools to their writings, and have done some historical research. I do not want propaganda, or polemics. Nor do I want hagiographies of famous people. It has to expand my mind, not just entertain it. A non-fiction book does not have to be academic, but it cannot be a fluff piece either.
For, the past three months, I have read three non-fiction books that I have widened my understanding of this country, and one that has increased my knowledge of Christianity, by focusing on the Book of Revelation. Unlike some of my other non-fiction books, all four of these are accessible by anyone who can read. Two of them are outright memoirs, but with a lot of "big picture" information, analysis, and self-reflection shoved in them. Even the one on religion will make you think, "Oh, wow!" And that is just the way I like it.
Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class by Sarah Smarsh
I never cared for the Daily Show. It was not the show's fault. Reality blurred the line between itself and satire. The media did a great job feeding the writers their material for each episode. Also, I do not like mixing news with entertainment. Okay, I understand that is what it has always been, since the printing press (the news always needed to sell itself, so it sold sensationalism--the more respected of them included actual useful information alongside the headlines). Yet, I can dream of a time when the news will be just the news. Right?
While I still have not watched a full episode of the Daily Show, I have been watching Jon Stewart's weekly opening monologue, and some times his interviews with individuals. More importantly, I follow his weekly podcasts, where he spends a good hour talking with all kinds of people. Through some of these interviews, I have received book suggestions. One of them was Sarah Smarsh and her collection of essays from the past two decades. And through her book, I discovered two others books from today's list: Tightrope and The Good Hand.
She is a journalist who grew up poor, and eventually made it big. Well, for a journalist. She discusses poverty, working class issues, politics, and her personal struggles. Each chapter is an essay, some dating to the early two thousands. A few of them were written during Trump's first term. Those are the most illuminating, from a historical perspective. How naive we were! One of my favorite chapters covers state legislation that reduced the amount a person on food stamps could withdraw from the bank at any one time. Unintended consequences? Because of the low limits, poor people were paying more fees, as they had to use the ATM more often. They accumulated more debt, while banks accrued more revenue. Funny how that works.
How did Sarah Smarsh rise out of her circumstances? Luck? Skill? Grit? All three? That is always the question whenever we hear a success story, a rags to riches (for a journalist) biography. Most of us will claim we see all three playing a part. However, when presented with government policies, we tend to assign percentages that usually favors one at the exclusion of the other two. And, I find it most interesting that when assigning it to ourselves, we usually overestimate the Skill and Grit part, ignoring the luck altogether. Or, we deny those two categories to those wealthy, famous, and powerful people whom we despise. As for the poor, the destitute, the losers of the world? They just need to learn a new skill, or work just a little harder. Luck has nothing to do with their situation.
Put aside, for now, the autobiographies and memoirs of the rich and famous. Most of them paid someone else to write their books. It is just another way to brand themselves. While I do not blame them, we can choose not to indulge in the practice. Instead, focus on the lives of every day people, whose actions are not measured in dollar amounts, or by the names of their inner circles, but instead by fears, hopes, and desires most of us can relate to. Sarah Smarsh is someone worth knowing about.
Coming up...
Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn
The Good Hand: A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown by Michael Patrick F. Smith
Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says About the End by Bart D. Ehrman
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