Uneducated: A Memoir of Flunking Out, Falling Apart, and Finding My Worth

Uneducated is a memoir by journalist Christopher Zara, who was kicked out of his New Jersey high school and never allowed back. It is a bold, honest, and wryly funny exploration of the educational divide and the true value of a college degree in our credential-obsessed world. Zara spent years contending with skeptical hiring managers and his own impostor syndrome before breaking into journalism, and he realized he needed to confront the label he had been quietly holding in: what it looked like to be part of the working class.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2023
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Uneducated is a bold, witty, and profoundly open-hearted exploration of our expanding educational divide, written by one diploma-less journalist. It serves as a challenge to our credential-obsessed society: what is the actual worth of a college degree?

Christopher Zara has had to navigate this professional minefield since being expelled from his New Jersey high school for behavioral issues and never allowed back. He went from a school for disturbed children to the 1980s punk scene, from an ice cream scooper in Florida to an unpaid internship in New York in his thirties. Zara battled with skeptical hiring managers and his own impostor syndrome for years before breaking into journalism, only to face an industry obsessed with pedigree.

As he traveled the world of the elite and witnessed the realities of the education gap firsthand, Zara realized he needed to confront the label he had been quietly holding: what it meant to be part of the working class.

Uneducated is a powerful and thought-provoking book that sheds light on the hidden struggles of the working class and challenges us to rethink our societal values. It is a must-read for anyone interested in education, social justice, and the American dream.

Weight: 460g
Dimension: 236 x 158 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780316268974