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Alissa and Kimberly will be discussing Alissa’s new book, Bootstrapped Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream.

Bootstrapped is an unsparing, incisive, yet ultimately hopeful look at how we can shed the American obsession with self-reliance that has made us less healthy, less secure, and less fulfilled

The promise that you can “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is central to the story of the American Dream. It’s the belief that if you work hard and rely on your own resources, you will eventually succeed. However, time and again we have seen how this foundational myth, with its emphasis on individual determination, brittle self-sufficiency, and personal accomplishment, does not help us. Instead, as income inequality rises around us, we are left with shame and self-blame for our condition.

Acclaimed journalist Alissa Quart argues that at the heart of our suffering is a do-it-yourself ethos, the misplaced belief in our own independence and the conviction that we must rely on ourselves alone. Looking at a range of delusions and half solutions—from “grit” to the false Horatio Alger story to the rise of GoFundMe—Quart reveals how we have been steered away from robust social programs that would address the root causes of our problems. Meanwhile, the responsibility for survival has been shifted onto the backs of ordinary people, burdening generations with debt instead of providing the social safety net we so desperately need.

Insightful, sharply argued, and characterized by Quart’s lively writing and deep reporting, and for fans of Evicted and Nickel and Dimed, Bootstrapped is a powerful examination of what ails us at a societal level and a plan for how we can free ourselves from these self-defeating narratives.

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ALISSA QUART
is the author of five acclaimed books of nonfiction, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2023), Squeezed, Republic of Outsiders, Hothouse Kids, and Branded. She is the Executive Director of the non-profit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. She is also the author of two books of poetry Thoughts and Prayers and Monetized. She has written for many publications including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and TIME. Her honors include an Emmy, an SPJ award and a Nieman fellowship. She lives with her family in Brooklyn.

KIMBERLY CUTTER
is a journalist, novelist, and creator and host of The Control Variable: American Propaganda, an investigative podcast series that takes an unprecedented look into the history and science of propaganda to better understand the events of January 6, 2021. She is the former Executive Editor for Harper’s Bazaar and the former West Coast Editor for W Magazine. Cutter has written for many publications including The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Vanity Fair, New York, AD, Marie Claire and Vogue.com. She lives in the Hudson Valley.MORE

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Kat Georges is a New York City-based author, poet, playwright, and graphic designer. She is the author of Our Lady of the Hunger: Poems and Three Somebodies: Plays about Notorious Dissidents, and is co-editor of the annual contemporary dada journal, Maintenant. Her poems have recently appeared in NYC from the Inside and Mas Tequila. Kat is co-director, editor, and creative director of Three Rooms Press.

Bibbe Hansenis a veteran of Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory and the 1960’s New York experimental theater and film underground. She is the daughter of Fluxus and Happenings artist Al Hansen, and the mother of visual artist Channing Hansen and the pop musician Beck. A multiverse performer, musician, and visual artist, Bibbe lives in Hudson, New York and lectures, performs, and exhibits internationally.

Puma Perl is a poet, writer, journalist, and performer and is the author of two chapbooks and three full-length poetry collections, including Retrograde (great weather for MEDIA). Her band, Puma Perl and Friends, brings spoken word together with rock and roll and has performed together since 2012. She’s received three awards from the New York Press Association in recognition of her journalism and was the recipient of the 2016 Acker Award in the category of writing. In 2022 she was honored to read at the Whitney Biennial, New York City.

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This Month’s book:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V. E. Schwab.

Book Club Description
A group of up to twenty diverse individuals who share a love of reading, conversation, discussion, meeting new people and who are open to diverse life views. Each meeting, a different club member will be designated to host the next gathering. Drinks and snacks are available. We’ll see what happens and build from there!

Book Club Details:

– A new host at every club meeting!

– The Book Club books are available from The Spotty Dog at a 15% book club discount.
– the second Tuesday of every month

– 20 people maximum

– 6pm-8pm or so

About The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.MORE