Sarah Smarsh Bücher

"A biography about Maria Sibylla Merian, one of the first entomologists and scientific illustrators"--

Smarsh challenged a typically male vision of the rural working class with her first book, Heartland, starring the bold, hard-luck women who raised her. Now, in She Come by It Natural, originally published in a four-part series for The Journal of Roots Music, No Depression, Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social progress by such women -- including those averse to the term "feminism" -- as exemplified by Dolly Parton's life and art.

A refreshing new perspective on some of the most infamous reprobates of the Midwest.

At once candidly intimate and searchingly analytical, She Come By It Natural captures the enduring appeal of this singular star.

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR AND A FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION. An eye-opening, topical, and moving memoir of one woman's experience of working-class poverty in America. Born a fifth-generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side and the product of generations of teenage mothers on her maternal side, Sarah Smarsh grew up in a family of labourers trapped in a cycle of poverty. She learned about hard work, and also absorbed painful lessons about economic inequality, eventually coming to understand the powerful forces that have blighted the lives of poor and working-class Americans living in the heartland. By sharing the story of her life and the lives of the people she loves, Smarsh challenges us to consider modern-day America from a different perspective. Combining memoir with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, Heartlandis a searing, uncompromising look at class, identity, and the perils of having less in a country known for its excess.

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction and Finalist for the Kirkus Prize An eye-opening memoir of working-class poverty in the American Midwest. During Sarah Smarsh's turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country's changing economic policies solidified her family's place among the working poor. By telling the story of her life and the lives of the people she loves, Smarsh challenges us to look more closely at the class divide in our country and examine the myths about people thought to be less because they earn less. Her personal history affirms the corrosive impact intergenerational poverty can have on individuals, families, and communities, and she explores this idea as lived experience, metaphor, and level of consciousness. Smarsh was born a fifth generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side and the product of generations of teen mothers on her maternal side. Through her experiences growing up as the daughter of a dissatisfied young mother and raised predominantly by her grandmother on a farm thirty miles west of Wichita, we are given a unique and essential look into the lives of poor and working class Americans living in the heartland. Combining memoir with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, Heartland is an uncompromising look at class, identity, and the particular perils of having less in a country known for its excess. Sarah Smarsh--tough-minded and rough-hewn--draws us into the real lives of her family, barely making it out there on the American plains. There's not a false note. Smarsh, as a writer, is Authentic with a capital A...This is just what the world needs to hear (George Hodgman, author of Bettyville).

Exploring over 25 chapters, this book vividly recounts the diverse and intriguing history of Kansas. Its lively narrative style makes the state's past both entertaining and accessible, highlighting key events and figures that shaped the Sunflower State. Readers will gain a deeper appreciation for Kansas through engaging stories that celebrate its unique heritage.