10 great books featuring working class heroes

nspired by a posthumous story collection from Lucia Berlin: a list of excellent stories starring proletarians too rarely given voice in industrial life.

7. "How to Grow Up," by Michelle Tea

Michelle Tea grew up in a working-class family in Massachusetts and spent years in less-than-ideal apartments, paying cheap rent so she didn’t have to work that much and could focus on her writing. “I simply didn’t know how to take care of myself in my twenties,” writes Tea. “I was feral, and I needed a feral cave that allowed me to live in my simple ways.” The road to success doesn’t always include a college degree. "How to Grow Up" proves that there are many ways (some rockier than others) to achieve one’s dreams.

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