Educated is a wonderful memoir. As a result of the good writing and dumbfounding stories, I finished the book in two days and spent the time in-between thinking about it. The experiences Westover recalls are remarkable — she was raised in rural Idaho with fundamentalist Mormon parents who eschewed the government and publicly run systems like schools and hospitals. She describes an upbringing and a skeptical, familial view of the world that resembles distant history not the the 1990s. Much of her life, which was isolated in all aspects, consisted of crushing heeling herbs with her mother and hard work in her father’s junkyard. It’s a “how is this happening” story that speaks of harsh abuse as well as the power of taking control of one’s life.
Quotes: “The seed of curiosity had been planted; it needed nothing more than time and boredom to grow. Sometimes, when I was stripping copper from a radiator or throwing the five hundredth chunk of steel into the bin, I’d find myself imagining the classrooms where Tyler was spending his days. My interest grew more acute with every deadening hour in the junkyard, until one day I had a bizarre thought: that I should enroll in the public school.” pg 60
“’You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,’ she says now. ‘You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.’”
“Curiosity is a luxury for the financially secure: my mind was absorbed with more immediate concerns, such as the exact balance of my bank account, who I owed how much, and whether there was anything in my room I could sell for ten or twenty dollars. I submitted my homework and studied for my exams, but I did so out of terror–of losing my scholarship should my GPA fall a single decimal–not from real interest in my classes.” pg 203
About the Author: Tara Westover was home schooled in Clifton, Idaho. She earned her B.A. at Brigham Young University and as a result of a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, was able to pursue a master’s degree from Cambridge University. She then continued at Cambridge, earning a PhD in history. Her book, Educated, has sold more than eight million copies.
Daniel Dickey
