Review: Sarah Smarsh Bone of the Bone

 

Sarah Smarsh. Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class. Scribner, NY. 2024. 

Smarsh offers personal essays that are written and published within 2013-2024. She publishes in a wide variety of venues. One value of this book is that her essays are consolidated into a single place. 

A second value is that she writes about her life and family so that the reader may understand that when she writes about class division and identity, government economic and farm policy, business practices, insurance, health care, wages compensation, sexism, etc., it is all personal. These are not mere abstract ideas or policies that are developed. These are ideas and decisions that directly affect real, decent, hardworking people like her and her family. 

I appreciated every essay collected in this book. My political and economic preferences and assumptions were challenged. My mind was not changed, but I felt that I was sufficiently argued with. Through Smarsh’s excellent use of words and honest and fair reporting, the reader is transported into the realities of her life and the experience of the working class in Kansas. 

Many of her essays stay with me. I will only mention three.  The 2014 Morning News essay, Dear Daughter, Your Mom,explains why she worked as a server at Hooters and what exactly that work entailed. She also explains why she quit. The 2014 Aeon essay, Poor Teeth, where she argues that access to dental care is a signifier of class within America. The 2022 Harper’s essay, In the Running, describes her decision-making process on deciding whether or not to run for public office. The money and work behind the scenes that is necessary to catapult a candidate into the election process is astonishing. One must want, really want, to serve in that capacity. 

My time was well spent in reading Bone of the Bone.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Installation Pictures

Image
 On January 7, I was installed as the Pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church, Rensselaer, IN and The Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, Monticello, IN.   Rev. Dr. D. Richard Stuckwisch, President of the Indiana District - LCMS, installed me.   Rev. David Mueller served as Preacher Rev. Wayne Berkesch, vacancy Pastor of St. Luke and Our Saviour served as officiant for the Service of the Word. I presided at the Service of the Sacrament. I am grateful that so many people came.  Most of the LCMS Pastors in the circuit were also present.  Thank you to Lutheran Church of Our Saviour for hosting the installation.    
Read more

Sermon and video for 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Image
Video of service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 2024 Pentecost 19 Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29             James 5:1-20                   Mark 9:38-50 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. In the course of our three-year lectionary, the book of Numbers is only used three times. Numbers 6 and 21 are the other two readings. So, I offer a quick overview of the book of Numbers because even in our devotional readings, I suspect we may not draw deeply from this particular book.  The book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Old Testament and is a part of the Old Testament we call the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible. They are written by the prophet and law-giver Moses. The book of Numbers records the travels of Israel from Mount Si...
Read more

Pentecost 3 - Deception

Image
Click here to view the service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Wikimedia Commons - Lucas Cranach - Adam and Eve Paradise 2024 Pentecost 3  Genesis 3:8-15         2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1       Mark 3:20-35  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O  Lord , my strength, and my redeemer. Deception is a regular part of our lives. We must be alert to the possibility that the person contacting us is a scammer. We must judiciously guard our myriad usernames and passwords so that we do not get hacked and someone steals our identity and money. We learn to read and listen to the news with a certain skepticism. We ask, what is the hidden agenda here? We learn to read the fine print and to question what is said as well as what is left unsaid.   The Bible attests that deception has been with us since the near beginning. In the lesson from Genesis, we see the after effect of deception. I w...
Read more