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.

"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

Named a Best Nonfiction Book of the Year by Electric Literature and Kirkus

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

"We were dazzled by Sarah Smarsh's timely essay collection. Anyone with an interest in politics and class conflict will find this an enriching read."
--Women.com

Publisher: Scribner Book Company

Pub date: 2024-09-10

Length: 352 pages