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Troubled

A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class

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Troubled

Written by: Rob Henderson
Narrated by: Rob Henderson
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER
One of The Economist’s Best Books of the Year!

In this “affecting…intriguing…heartbreaking” (Booklist) coming-of-age memoir, Rob Henderson vividly recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, attending elite universities, and pioneering the concept of “luxury beliefs”—ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class while inflicting costs on the less fortunate.

Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met, ultimately shuttling between ten different foster homes in California. When he was adopted into a loving family, he hoped that life would finally be stable and safe. But divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence marked his adolescent and teen years, propelling Henderson to join the military upon completing high school.

A “vivid, insightful, poignant, and powerful” (Nicholas A. Christakis, author of Blueprint) portrait of shattered families, desperation, and determination, Troubled recounts Henderson’s expectation-defying young life and juxtaposes his story with those of his friends who wound up incarcerated or killed.

As he navigates the peaks and valleys of social class, Henderson finds that he remains on the outside looking in. His greatest achievements—a military career, an undergraduate education from Yale, a PhD from Cambridge—feel like hollow measures of success. He argues that stability at home is more important than external accomplishments, and he illustrates the ways the most privileged among us benefit from a set of social standards that actively harm the most vulnerable. Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Sociology Memoir Fostering Inspiring
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What is his new beginning. Life is filled with new beginnings. This is not a positive assertion, rather an acknowledgement of the uncertainty and mystery of life.

The clarity with which he told his story.

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A window into the impact of instability during childhood. A first hand experience told in an easy to listen to manner.

Interesting and easy to listen to

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excellent book. highly recommend to all but especially to the highly educated people proudly living in ideological bubbles

honest and insightful

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If you have heard of Rob Henderson it’s probably due to his coining the term ”luxury beliefs.” The term encapsulates the capacity of the upper class to hold certain beliefs that signal status but may actually be harmful to other classes. This book is a moving and powerful account of Rob’s move through foster homes, the military and then to university. I ended up devouring this book in just a day. I think this is one that’s going to stick with me for awhile. Bonus.. it’s read by the author which to me makes it that much easier to recommend.

The importance of stable families

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hard to listen to. bit boring to be honest, nowhere near as interesting as I'd hoped

bit boring to be honest

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