The Snarling Citizen: Essays

by Barbara Ehrenreich

There are no pieties, liberal or conservative, in Ehrenreich's world. Fiercely funny and militantly uncompromising, The Snarling Citizen contains something to offend almost everyone, from Rush Limbaugh to Hillary Clinton, and something to delight everyone who believes humans are worth saving after all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Barbara Ehrenreich was an American author and political activist. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she was a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She was a widely read and award-winning columnist and essayist and the author of 21 books. Ehrenreich was best known for her 2001 book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, a memoir of her three-month experiment surviving on a series of minimum-wage jobs. She was a recipient of a Lannan Literary Award and the Erasmus Prize.

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing how much things haven't changed since the '90s. I stumbled on this hidden gem when I was browsing in the library. It's a book of essays compiled from contributions she made primarily to Time, The Guardian, and The Nation. I didn't know when I found this that she'd been writing short opinion pieces during that decade. I've always been a fan of her non-fiction ("Nickel & Dimed"being one of them) so suspected I would like her essays. The title alone was enticing!

The book didn't disappoint. Ms. Ehrenreich opined about everything from political correctness, poverty, the impact of the religious right on our political landscape, the dumbing down of the media and of course, feminism. Her critiques can be scathing, almost cringe-worthy ...and they exhibit a deep understanding of the flaws within American society. Her essay on the Warrior Culture was one of the most memorable and appeared fresh off the press given recent behavior of the police.

The book is broken into sections that address a series of topics: Life in the Postmodern Family (terrific essay: 'Oh Those Family Values'); Body Issues; Sex Skirmishes and Gender Wars (highlight: 'Sorry Sisters, This is Not the Revolution'); In the Realm of the Spectacle (topic: media); The Snarling Citizen (topic: politics); Trampling on the Down-and-Out (poverty, class); Clash of the Titans (power).

If you write and are looking for a book of excellent essays and opinion pieces to study, this book is a keeper. Reading it as a writer, entices you to take notes, to study how she builds an argument, to examine how she uses research and numbers to buttress her point of view. All the while, she is driven by moral outrage and a keen eye, to confront us with a reality many would rather avoid. I want to write like that. There are not many essayists like her to use as a model. I borrowed this from the library but will likely buy it as an exemplar of well-written non-fiction.

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't wish to repeat myself by saying the same things that I did for the last Barbara Ehrenreich collection of essays The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed, but the general feelings are the same. The only difference is the decade: this book is about the 1990's where The Worst Years is from the 1980's. The absence of a significant straw man in the 1990's (she doesn't focus on Gingrich, which surprised me) affects this book negatively on the entertainment scale. There's a bit of sniping on George Herbert Walker Bush, but she doesn't display the same venom that Reagan generated in her.

The writing is still very good and she presents her arguments well, but, as I've said in my previous review, she'll convince no one of anything different. Her goal is not to persuade and she'll be relegated to having her arguments and musings repeated(probably badly) by fellow travellers. It's such a shame that she chooses not to use her talents to mount a proper defense of her views.

[Vickie T · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays from the 90s. Very entertaining. Amazing how much hasn't changed. At all.

[Gail Kennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

passionate, funny and intelligent look at issues still mostly relevant today even if the players have changed.

[Jen Mem · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole book is a delight, but the reprinting of "Who's on Main Street?" makes this collection more relevant than ever.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you get the idea I like this author?

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated by now.

[Carrie]

essays

[Elusive.Mystery · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dated and borderline tedious. One good quote, though: “We have no national healthcare, no network of government-financed child-care centers, no federal guarantees of higher education… (1992)”

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short editorials written in the early 90's by Ehrenreich, making the material both shallow and dated. Still, she is a brilliant author and I enjoyed each of the pages.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a collection of essays. I like Ehrenreich's style, but the quality of the essays are hit or miss.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even in essays, a little of this author goes a long way. The title is apt.