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A review by audjmo91
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
4.0
I chose this book in an effort to reach outside of my bubble and learn more about people who grew up or live lives with different backgrounds and beliefs from mine, and I think the Hochschild did a great job in presenting the stories of Louisiana Tea Party voters.
What I found particularly insightful was the analysis of the "deep story," which encapsulated much of the logic between the "makers vs. takers" and why resentment is focused on the poor for trying to rise to the middle class rather than the 1% looking to keep everyone else down. Hochschild writes compassionately and empathetically about the people she gets to know over a series of visits, and I appreciated the epilogue post-2016 election that accompanies the paperback version.
4 stars because I kept grasping for a tighter conclusion, but since this is nonfiction and the lives and feelings of those represented in this book are still fresh and real and evolving, I acknowledge that a snappy ending or one sentence "lesson" for those on the left may not actually be possible.
What I found particularly insightful was the analysis of the "deep story," which encapsulated much of the logic between the "makers vs. takers" and why resentment is focused on the poor for trying to rise to the middle class rather than the 1% looking to keep everyone else down. Hochschild writes compassionately and empathetically about the people she gets to know over a series of visits, and I appreciated the epilogue post-2016 election that accompanies the paperback version.
4 stars because I kept grasping for a tighter conclusion, but since this is nonfiction and the lives and feelings of those represented in this book are still fresh and real and evolving, I acknowledge that a snappy ending or one sentence "lesson" for those on the left may not actually be possible.