Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class by Sarah Smarsh

Smarsh’s August 9, 2024, essay on Walz easily could have found a home in Bone of the Bone, her new collection of journalism and other non-fiction writings (2013-24). These pieces extend the narrative of Smarsh’s 2018 memoir, Heartland, a survey of her Kansas-born life into poverty, the generations who preceded her, and a finalist for the National Book Award.

Cover of At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage by Carol Off. The cover is white, with the title in black capital letters and the subtitle in red. At the bottom are a set of cubes spelling out "Fact" but the last two letters are sitting in an edge, so it could be read as "fake."

At a Loss for Words: Conversations in an Age of Rage by Carol Off

In a compelling and succinct introduction, Off argues that in the current context, we are witness to no less than the devolution of democracy in favour of the rise of populism and demagoguery, and sets out to prove that the deliberate weaponization of language is contributing to a blurred understanding of civil society.