Coming of Age in a Hardscrabble World

Nonfiction storytelling is at its best in this anthology of excerpts from memoirs by thirty authors-some eminent, some less well known-who grew up tough and talented in working-class America. Their stories, selected from literary memoirs published between 1982 and 2014, cover episodes from childhood to young adulthood within a spectrum of life-changing experiences. Although diverse ethnically, racially, geographically, and in sexual orientation, these writers share a youthful precocity and determination to find opportunity where little appeared to exist.All of these perspectives are explored within the larger context of economic insecurity-a needed perspective in this time of growing inequality. These memoirists grew up in families that led "e;hardscrabble"e; lives in which struggle and strenuous effort were the norm. Their stories offer insight on the realities of class in America, as well as inspiration and hope.