Bone of the Bone
Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class
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3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher
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Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
Bone of the Bone
Narrated by:
Sarah Smarsh
Buy Now for £14.37
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Narrated by:
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Sarah Smarsh
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By:
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Sarah Smarsh
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.
“A compassionate look at working-class poverty in America” (Time), 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.
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Critic reviews
"National Book Award finalist Sarah Smarsh performs a collection of her essays written from 2013–2024. After growing up on a wheat farm in Kansas, Smarsh went on to join academia and found herself writing about her working-class childhood. Drawing connections between such diverse topics as the relationship between socioeconomic status and access to dental care and the fallacies of thinking strictly in terms of red and blue states, Smarsh’s essays are full of sharp observations that are as relevant now as when they were first published. Her clear and direct performance draws the listener in from the first moments of the audiobook. Her essays are full of heart, and her narration captures that emotional depth."
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