The I Index

Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream

Next in the queue

54

/100

I Index Overall Rating

Readers

26/100

Critics

81/100

Scholars

N/A

Author:

Alissa Quart

Publisher:

Ecco

Date:

March 14, 2023

To 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' is central to the story of the American dream and yet today leaves us with shame and self-blame for our condition. Here is how to become free of self-defeating narratives.

What The Reviewers Say

Emi Nietfield,
The Atlantic
In a wide-ranging 230 pages, Quart challenges our nation’s obsession with self-reliance.
Erin Downey Howerton,
Booklist
Quart picks at the threads of the American dream to reveal a richer tapestry.

Kirkus
Against these harsh realities, which she reports on cogently and without rancor, Quart proposes a more meaningful safety net of cooperative work and mutual aid.