Trump was in Iowa this week holding yet another rally. The cheers and opposing jeers were just one more example that there are distinctly opposing narratives in this nation, and the dissonance is tearing us apart. All of these narratives need unwinding and understanding, but let’s start with middle America. Here is a list of books that can, maybe, help us understand some of the stories we tell about ourselves about ourselves.
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Those Who Work, Those Who Don’t: Poverty, Morality, and Family in Rural America by Jennifer Sherman
Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag
A People’s History of Chicago by Kevin Coval
The Crown Ain’t Worth Much by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg
Crawlspace by Nikki Wallschlaeger
Mr. and Mrs. Doctor by Julie Iromuanya
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Wild Hundreds by Nate Marshall
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer
