Reviewed by Hillary on
The story would have felt more authentic if Tess Vigeland had not been…so privileged. I mean sure there are plenty of poor white people who would LOVE to quit their jobs but kids are expensive. Then there are single mothers. I could name all off a whole category of women who would do anything to quit their job. I live in Hillbilly Elegy country so I have seen what effects wretched poverty brings. I even though I was born and raised here I will be the first to tell you that I have a lot of privileges. For example, many people would love to go to college but they lack the appropriate amount of funds and to be honest, so did I but I received a full scholarship so in the fall of 1998 I left the area not to return here to live until 2 years ago. I am also privileged in the fact that my family HAD truck/car to put all my stuff in and there were able to help me move. Suppose I had not had that advantage?? I may have ended up pregnant and/or worse. I know this for sure, I couldn’t figure why people my age looked so worn down then it hit me that poverty, true poverty is a hard master. It will grind you down until you are begging for a way out. And if you have no money no car and only a trailer that has been condemned then the only way out is death. Poor people often do not HAVE the luxury of saying fuck this shit, fuck this job I quit! And Tess Vigeland did just that and she had a man to catch her ( don’t look at me like that she DID)so now she piddles around trying to figure out what the fuck to do now.
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I was telling some of my friends about the book and how the whole oh I hate my job imma gonna quit and then I will figure something out” and how Tess Vigeland just up and because of all the privileges she COULD.
to be honest by the time my turn came up for the library audiobook I had forgotten that I had placed this audiobook on hold. You may judge me but by the title and the look of the book, it brought to mind quitting a dream job to lead a more fulfilled and authentic life.
Don’t get me wrong. I am sure that Tess Veigland and other women in the same boat feel as if their world is coming apart and it is. It would just have been more authentic had Tess Veigland had recognized and admitted that she was privileged enough to “leap” from a nice steady job into the vast unknown.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 12 January, 2020: Finished reading
- 12 January, 2020: Reviewed