Paper Girl

“Want to know why America is fractured? Read Paper Girl, an indispensable account of how things got so ugly here. Beth Macy grew up poor, with an alcoholic dad, in Urbana, Ohio, yet through education she made the jump to the middle class. Returning to her homeplace, she probes the factors that make a move like hers almost unimaginable for the kids who sit in the same classrooms as she did. Heartfelt, intimate and enraging, it is more than a memoir; it's a manifesto.” — Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Memorial Days “Beautifully written and rigorously reported, Beth Macy’s Paper Girl is an answered prayer, an urgently needed voyage along America’s most painful fracture lines that is at once mesmerizing, chilling, and — perhaps most remarkably — hopeful.” — Andrea Elliot, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Invisible Child ""In this tender and deeply reported memoir, Beth Macy examines how the forces that made her, have unmade generations to follow. Paper Girl reveals the makings of a crackerjack reporter and a person of profound integrity who refuses to leave behind the people and places she loves."" — Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Amity and Prosperity “I think only Beth Macy could write a book that combines such genuine empathy, brutal honesty, and really smart analytic insight. Paper Girl is at once deeply personal and firmly anchored in social science research. Macy helps us better understand the political-cultural divide that’s ripping America apart while somehow managing to humanize both sides of that divide. This beautifully written book will teach you a lot about your fellow Americans, but it will also change how you feel about them.” — Steven Levitsky, New York Times bestselling co-author of How Democracies Die “One of the most humane and insightful journalists working today, Macy has triumphed with Paper Girl. It weaves together her personal story with her urgent wish to understand how her hometown lost its way economically, educationally, and emotionally. Anyone trying to understand America in its current incarnation needs to read this beautiful book.” — Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Orchid Thief “In Paper Girl, one of our greatest chroniclers of the America that’s fallen victim to the crises of capitalism weaves together memoir, biography, elegy, advocacy--all of it surging with the energy of right now and profoundly informed by her Ohio hometown. This giant-hearted book offers hope as well as clear-eyed warnings, which land with the force of a revelation.” — Jeff Sharlet, bestselling author of The Undertow and The Family ""With Paper Girl, Beth Macy masterfully assesses a dysfunctional class system witnessed both as reporter and through lived experience. This essential book reveals that resolving our current sociopolitical crisis requires not just digging for facts but digging even deeper into our very souls."" — Sarah Smarsh, New York Times bestselling author of Heartland ""What a beautiful book! Beth Macy’s compassion and keen-eyed wisdom make for powerful storytelling. Paper Girl is a personal journey that explores greater truths and should be read by anyone trying to understand what’s going on in America today."" — Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle