Now collected for the first time in one volume, the brilliant and provocative essays that established National Book Award finalist Sarah Smarsh as one of the most important commentators on socioeconomic class in America—featuring a previously unpublished essay and a new introduction.

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.

Compiling Smarsh’s reportage and more poetic reflections, 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.

About The Author

Photograph by Doug Stremel

Sarah Smarsh

Sarah Smarsh is a journalist who has reported for The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, The Guardian, and many other publications. Her first book, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her second book, She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Smarsh is a frequent political commentator and speaker on socioeconomic class. She lives in Kansas.

Product Details

Publisher: Scribner (September 10, 2024)
Length: 352 pages
ISBN13: 9781668055601

Raves and Reviews

A TIME Magazine and Chicago Tribune Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2024
A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2024

"In one searing—and stunning—collection, Bone of the Bone gives the often-ignored people in what some call ‘flyover country’ their due. [The] intersection of personal and political is where Smarsh’s powers of observation and will to incite change thrive. Bone of the Bone is a collection that offers a multitude of gifts on a variety of heavy-hitting levels and is a must-read for today’s politics."
—San Francisco Chronicle

“[Smarsh’s] writing is both muscular—she writes with such conviction—and anchored in place. Reading someone writing about the state of the grasslands—what is directly outside her window—is such a breath of fresh air."
—Kansas City Star

“Smarsh’s ability to interweave stories—including aspects of her life—places her in the tradition of working-class journalism exemplified by Studs Terkel, Barbara Ehrenreich and others...The deep empathy that animates Smarsh’s prose combines with a rigorous intellect committed to uncovering and explaining structural causes of our current cultural moment."
—Los Angeles Times

"A compassionate look at working-class poverty in America...an insightful collection of essays."
—Time

“The author of Heartland returns with a collection of pieces that illuminate the plights and humanity of her working-class subjects. This collection’s impact is staggering, and [with] a distinct style, Smarsh’s voice is constant, studied, and compassionate. This powerful reckoning with the costs of being poor should be required short-form nonfiction reading.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Compellling essays combine affecting stories from her life with political arguments...wrenching."
—Booklist