Coming Apart, Charles Murray
Coming Apart, Charles Murray
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Coming Apart
The State of White America, 19602010

Author: Charles Murray

Narrator: Traber Burns

Unabridged: 12 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/07/2012


Synopsis

From the bestselling author ofLosing GroundandThe Bell Curve, this startling longlens view shows how America is coming apart at the seams that have historically joined our classes. InComing Apart, Charles Murray explores the formation of American classes that are different in kind from anything we have ever known, focusing on whites as a way of driving home the fact that the trends he describes do not break along lines of race or ethnicity. Drawing on five decades of statistics and research,Coming Apartdemonstrates that a new upper class and a new lower class have diverged so far in core behaviors and values that they barely recognize their underlying American kinshipa divergence that has nothing to do with income inequality and that has grown during good economic times and bad. The top and bottom of white America increasingly live in different cultures, Murray argues, with the powerful upper class living in enclaves surrounded by their own kind, ignorant about life in mainstream America, and the lower class suffering from erosions of family and community life that strike at the heart of the pursuit of happiness. This divergence puts the success of the American project at risk. The evidence inComing Apartis about white America. Its message is about all of America.

About Charles Murray

Charles Murray is a political scientist, author, and libertarian. He first came to national attention in 1984 with the publication of Losing Ground, which has been credited as the intellectual foundation for the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. He is also well known for his 1994 New York Times bestseller The Bell Curve, coauthored with the late Richard J. Herrnstein, which sparked heated controversy for its analysis of the role of IQ in shaping America's class structure.


Reviews

Goodreads review by John-Paul on May 17, 2014

This book has earned many 1-star reviews and many 5-star reviews. I don't like to present myself as some kind of political Goldilocks, but I must say that I disagree with most of Murray's political leanings and assumptions but I also learned a lot from this book. So three stars it is. The parts of th......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on February 08, 2012

If you want to have a discussion about class in America, you MUST read this book. This book was eye opening in many significant ways and the most troubling part is that if Murray is even half right, the American experiment is coming to an end. He echoes the call of other authors/intellectuals such a......more

Goodreads review by Orrin on March 15, 2012

Charles Murray's book pinpoints the unraveling of America's community over the last 50 years and shares a plan for its restoration. It's one of the few books that I purchased and read within the week. Truthfully, it was hard to put down! Although many believe that the complex challenges facing us tod......more

Goodreads review by L.A. on March 26, 2017

Charles Murray has gained notoriety due to the attacks on him and protests over one of his earlier books. Leaving that aside (with no wish to get in a firefight), THIS book, published in 2013, explains the class stratification of the US and is one of the very few (along with Hillbilly Elegy) with cl......more

Goodreads review by Bojan on February 20, 2012

Charles Murray is one of the most distinguished and insightful social scientists of our time. His work over the past few decades has systematically and methodically probed into some of the most consequential and momentous societal and policy issues. Unfortunately, due to the highly politicized and c......more