Making Michael Arceneaux's I Don't Want to Die Poor required reading in high schools across the country would help a lot of young people think twice about the promise that going to college at any cost is the only path to upward social mobility ... Throughout all of it, [Arceneaux] retains a dark sense of humor and the idea that there is something better out there, something he will achieve through hard work ... The thing that makes I Don't Want to Die Poor an outstanding read is Arceneaux's voice. He writes like he's telling you, his friend, a story ... For Arceneaux, life hasn't been easy, and his writing shows that. Luckily for readers, every painful detail he shares is balanced out by a superb critique, a masterful turn of phrase, a funny use of popular culture or a couple of sentences that cut to the bone of a social issue and expose the core of it with unbending honesty ... Heartbreaking, hilarious, unapologetic and smart, this collection of essays shows a talented young voice that can attack racist nonsense while discussing The Real Housewives of Atlanta. It's also a warning to future generations and a literary hug to those who have fallen into the unforgiving claws of student loan debt.

Journalist and cultural critic Arceneaux...offers another unflinchingly smart and wickedly funny collection of essays ... Arceneaux’s writing is meticulously researched, gut-bustingly funny, and rich with niche cultural references ready to surprise and delight his audiences at every turn.

...at its best when Arceneaux discusses the day-to-day travails of struggling with the debt burden ...I Don’t Want to Die Poor is not without its flaws. It has its clumsy patches, and the book is full of slang and pop culture references which make it very much of the moment, but which may not age well. Arceneaux also points out that he knows the book will attract criticism from those who think he should have made other, less expensive choices in the past. That brand of criticism is precisely the point: I Don’t Want to Die Poor is an excellent critique of the way that our society encourages people to try for more, and then punishes them for doing so.

...a candid study of the hydra-like power of student loan debt and, as a result, the rising cost of freedom ... Arceneaux is entertaining as much as he is insightful. While pop culture references come fast and furious...they don’t distract or take away from the overall narrative themes. In less skilled hands, the humor would feel forced and repetitious. However, Arceneaux’s strength lies in his experience as a writer who found his voice online, having carved out a space where both vulnerability and nuanced critical thinking work together to reflect on the contradictions of our world. His voice is as familiar as that ride or die friend who isn’t afraid of your mistakes and has stuck around without judgment ... Arceneaux’s essays are a reminder that debt (particularly for the generation of young people who graduated on the heels of the 2008 recession) is not indicative of one’s character ... Student loan debt is not a death sentence but an indictment of broken systems and the unjust, corrupt institutions that keep them alive.

Throughout these essays, Arceneaux passionately and candidly displays his political and racial awareness alongside sharp opinions on popular culture, marijuana use, Instagram, and depression. At times, the author’s writing comes off as overindulgent and peevish, much more so than in his previous book. He’s at his strongest when honestly evaluating the merciless harassment of robocalls and debt collectors who called him (and his mother, who co-signed many of his loans) early mornings and late nights while he struggled to stay afloat with writing gigs, some of which went unpaid for months ... A mixed bag of contemporary cultural insight and cautionary introspection on the universal issue of student loan debt.

In an often funny, and sometimes moving, collection of essays, Arceneaux...explores a defining decision in his life: financing his Howard University communications degree through private student loans ... Those born before the Reagan administration might find themselves turning to Urban Dictionary to decipher some of his vocabulary, but readers across generational lines will appreciate the sensitivity with which Arceneaux examines his relationships to potential partners, or to his mother ... By turns angry, hilarious, and introspective, this should strike a chord with millennials.