Westover manages to journey from an abusive, weirdly religious upbringing to some of the world's best educational institutions. Educational played a huge part in her ability to take control of her own life. An excellent, engaging read.
by Tara Westover
#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University“Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention.”—The New York TimesNAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • Los Angeles Times Book PrizeBorn to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became vi…
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Westover manages to journey from an abusive, weirdly religious upbringing to some of the world's best educational institutions. Educational played a huge part in her ability to take control of her own life. An excellent, engaging read.
reviewed Educated
One of the best memoirs written in the last decade. Westover's story is extraordinary but what makes the book exceptional is the writing. She holds the complexity of loving a family that harmed you without sentimentality or bitterness. The questions it raises about memory and truth are as interesting as the events themselves.
reviewed Educated
Impossible to put down and impossible to shake. The Idaho sections are vivid in the most disturbing way. Westover has written something genuinely rare: a memoir that is also a serious inquiry into epistemology and identity. How do you know what you know when the people who taught you were lying?
reviewed Educated
Read this in two days. Westover's voice is controlled and precise throughout, which makes the chaos she's describing even more striking. The relationship with her brother Shawn is one of the most unsettling portrayals of family dysfunction I've read. A remarkable book.
Jeannette Walls
