Arlie Russell Hochschild

Arlie Russell Hochschild’s fall 2016 book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, addresses the increasingly bitter political divide in America. A finalist for the National Book Award, the book is based on five years of immersion reporting among Tea Party loyalists -- now mostly supporters of Donald Trump. (New books have shipped to Amazon and should be available to customers in the next few day, not weeks as the Amazon message says, as of October 3) Hochschild tries to bridge an “empathy wall” between the two political sides, to explore the “deep story” underlying the right that remains unrecognized by the left. Mark Danner calls the book “a powerful, imaginative, necessary book, arriving not a moment too soon." Robert Reich writes” Anyone who wants to understand modern America should read this captivating book." In its review, Publisher’s Weekly notes: “After evaluating her conclusions and meeting her informants in these pages, it’s hard to disagree that empathy is the best solution to stymied political and social discourse.”