Discover more about the author and the book on ENGINE ORANGE.
New York Times Book Review
She Didn’t Own a Birth Certificate or Go to School. Yet She Went On to Earn a Ph.D.
"It is only when the final, wrenching break from most of her family arrives that one realizes just how courageous this testimonial really is. These disclosures will take a toll. But one is also left convinced that the costs are worth it. By the end, Westover has somehow managed not only to capture her unsurpassably exceptional upbringing, but to make her current situation seem not so exceptional at all, and resonant for many others."
"Westover's one-of-a-kind memoir is about the shaping of a mind."
Inspiring Story of a Young Woman Determined to Learn
"Educated is a heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir about striding beyond the limitations of birth and environment and into a better life." ★★★★ of four.
"Her story is remarkable, as each extreme anecdote described in tidy prose attests...All the same, readers who enjoyed more mundane backgrounds will empathize. The central tension she wrestles with throughout her book is how to be true to herself without alienating her family. Her upbringing was extraordinary, but that struggle is not."
An Extraordinary Upbringing Recounted with Evocative Lyricism
"She recounts her experiences with a matter-of-fact lyricism that is extraordinarily evocative, and which makes the emotional impact of the inevitable rift between herself and some members of her family even more powerful. Educated reminds us that education doesn’t just mean learning about history and science and art. It means learning how to think for oneself."
Publishers Weekly
"Westover’s vivid prose makes this saga of the pressures of conformity and self-assertion that warp a family seem both terrifying and ordinary. "
Watch, listen, and read more at https://tarawestover.com/media
Penguin Random House Questions and Topics for Discussion
11 Book Club Discussion Questions for ‘Educated’
Newton Gresham Library | (936) 294-1614 | (866) NGL-INFO | Ask a Question | Share a Suggestion
Sam Houston State University | Huntsville, Texas 77341 | (936) 294-1111 | (866) BEARKAT
© Copyright Sam Houston State University | All rights reserved. | A Member of The Texas State University System