Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I really wanted to like this book, especially with the exceptional reviews it received by readers and critics alike. I finished it in 3 days. Not because it was so engaging, but because I just wanted to get it over with. I am beyond shocked that it has been so well received. First of all, don't be fooled by the classification of this book. Amazon has included it under the Political Science / Sociology section, along with memoir, but nothing could be further from the truth. The author recounts his experiences growing up in impoverished parts of the Rust Belt and the culture shock that occurred when he left for the Marines and eventually Yale Law School. There is little to no sociological or cultural analysis that goes beyond the anecdotal memories of the author. And the memories he recounts are a rather standard reel of adverse childhood experiences and can be found all over the country and world. What I take real issue with is that the author continually cites things as facts that are simply untrue. For example, he claims that church going people are happier than non-churchgoing people, however most research and surveys show the opposite - that religiosity is more highly correlated with depression and suicidality than non-religiosity. Furthermore, he later states that the U.S. has the highest rate of children being raised by multiple caregivers (i.e. not two parent systems) than anywhere in the world, but then only compares it to two extremely developed countries (England and Sweden). The fact that this over 250 page book has a mere 21 references at the end (which includes extremely bias sources like the Public Religion Institute), as well as extremely outdated sources proves that the author has no interest in backing up his anecdotes and opinions with facts. He goes to support the use of pay day loans as a solution for the poor without citing any evidence of their benefit outside of his own practice, probably because no actual evidence exists. The real height of absurdity was reached when the author suggested that poor people could be pushed to succeeding if only they had more Christian love in their lives. My issue with this book is not that it is not a sociological analysis, but rather that it seems both the publisher and author want you to think that it is by providing readers with inaccurate and misleading information masquerading as facts. And on top of all this the writing is simply not good.