RaveThe AtlanticIn a wide-ranging 230 pages, Quart challenges our nation’s obsession with self-reliance ... One of Quart’s sharpest points is that administrative burdens force disadvantaged people to repeatedly prove their worthiness ... Although Quart primarily criticizes such policy failures, she also shows how widespread the tendency is to overemphasize individual responsibility ... Just as important, Bootstrapped urges readers to rethink their narratives of accomplishment. Quart encourages us to stop shaming others, and ourselves, for needing assistance and to acknowledge the ways we are all interdependent.
