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After reading "White Trash", I gather that Nancy Isenberg is mad. Really mad. She's furious at the denial of the central role of class in our country, now and throughout its history. She is even more angry at the blatant unfairness of it all. People at the bottom economic rungs are systematically denied so much: decent housing, adequate food, education, and respect. And then, salt in the wound, they are blamed for their own problem, which are diagnosed as the result of moral turpitude. I get that. What a raw deal! But Isenberg is inarticulate, sometimes incoherent in describing the problem. When relating the history of class and class bias in our country, she adopts the tactic of "proof by vigorous assertion", stating her conclusion again and again (e.g., saying people were labeled as trash, and the colonies were seen as a dumping ground), but little or not support. The text has endnotes, but determining how or whether the citations support her points is left as an exercise to the reader. In addition, an interplay between sweeping generalizations and concrete examples is sorely missing -- the narrative seems stuck at the 10,000 foot level. In addition to largely unsupported claims, the text contains some howlers that sabotage its credibility. Isenberg claims that Thomas Paine supported class distinctions and hierarchy, an absurd, slanderous charge to make against a man who risked his life and fortune by challenging the notion of aristocracy. She cites the land-owning, church deacon and USNA graduate, Jimmy, Carter, as an example of white trash, which makes it clear she has no clue as to the denotation and connotation of that term. And she claims that denying abortion services to low income, minority women is a form of eugenics(!), which makes my head spin every time I think of it. We need a serious discussion on the role of class in our society, both present and past. "White Trash" fails to fill this role.