Educated A Memoir
Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER - One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University'An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It's even better than you've heard.'--Bill GatesNAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW - ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR - BILL GATES'S HOLIDAY READING LIST - FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle's Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book - PEN/Jean Stein Book Award - Los Angeles Times Book PrizeBorn to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home. 'Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of Westover's] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?'--VogueNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post - O: The Oprah Magazine - Time - NPR - Good Morning America - San Francisco Chronicle - The Guardian - The Economist - Financial Times - Newsday - New York Post - theSkimm - Refinery29 - Bloomberg - Self - Real Simple - Town & Country - Bustle - Paste - Publishers Weekly - Library Journal - LibraryReads - BookRiot - Pamela Paul, KQED - New York Public Library
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Product Details
- Educated: A Memoir. Random House, 2018. The memoir opened with Tara reflecting on the mountainous land on which she grew up and the way her childhood was influenced from such isolation from society. Grandma-down-the-hill offered to take Tara to a school in Arizona, but she refused to leave her family. Her father taught his children Bible.
- An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to.
- Find helpful summaries and analyses for every chapter in Tara Westover's Educated - A Memoir. Explore Studypool's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A discussions. Educated - A Memoir Chapter 20 Summary - Studypool.
Educated A Memoir Book
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Reviews
'An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It's even better than you've heard.'--Bill Gates'Heart-wrenching . . . a beautiful testament to the power of education to open eyes and change lives.'--Amy Chua, TheNew York Times Book Review'A coming-of-age memoir reminiscent of The Glass Castle.'--O: The Oprah Magazine'Westover's one-of-a-kind memoir is about the shaping of a mind. . . . In briskly paced prose, she evokes a childhood that completely defined her. Yet it was also, she gradually sensed, deforming her.'--The Atlantic'Tara Westover is living proof that some people are flat-out, boots-always-laced-up indomitable. Her new book, Educated, is a heartbreaking, heartwarming, best-in-years memoir about striding beyond the limitations of birth and environment into a better life. . . . ★★★★ out of four.'--USA Today'[Educated] left me speechless with wonder. [Westover's] lyrical prose is mesmerizing, as is her personal story, growing up in a family in which girls were supposed to aspire only to become wives--and in which coveting an education was considered sinful. Her journey will surprise and inspire men and women alike.'--Refinery29
'Riveting . . . Westover brings readers deep into this world, a milieu usually hidden from outsiders. . . . Her story is remarkable, as each extreme anecdote described in tidy prose attests.'--The Economist 'A subtle, nuanced study of how dysfunction of any kind can be normalized even within the most conventional family structure, and of the damage such containment can do.'--Financial Times 'Whether narrating scenes of fury and violence or evoking rural landscapes or tortured self-analysis, Westover writes with uncommon intelligence and grace. . . . One of the most improbable and fascinating journeys I've read in recent years.'--Newsday
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Read MoreThe following version of this book was used to create the guide: Westover, Tara. Educated: A Memoir. Random House, 2018.
The memoir opened with Tara reflecting on the mountainous land on which she grew up and the way her childhood was influenced from such isolation from society. Grandma-down-the-hill offered to take Tara to a school in Arizona, but she refused to leave her family. Her father taught his children Bible passages and stories about the Weavers, a family who also lived secluded from society, and their fatal encounter with the federal government. The latter instilled fear in the family along with the motivation to prepare for such a confrontation. Her father suggested her mother midwife to continue his pursuit to self-reliance from the government and medical care. Around this time, Tara, Tyler, Audrey, and Richard were issued delayed birth certificates.
Her parents were attracted to each other because of their differences. Her mother did not speak up, though, when her father ordered the family to drive home to Idaho from Arizona overnight. Tyler fell asleep at the wheel and their mother sustained a brain injury from which she never recovered. Shortly after this incident, Tyler decided to go to college. Synctoy for mac download. While he was gone, Tara was recruited to work in the junkyard for her father. She listened to his ill-conceived direction and sustained a knee injury. Her mother learned energy healing since her accident and put it into practice with injuries that happened at home, like when Luke scorched his leg while working with his father. Tara wanted to escape the junkyard, so she found work and began dance classes. Her father deemed the latter immodest, so she took to singing instead.
After Tara’s father’s preparation for Y2K was deemed useless, the family traveled to Arizona to lift his spirits. He ordered the family to travel home at night again, and his driving led to an accident that totaled their van. Shawn returned home after the accident and spent a lot of time with Tara. He eased her neck injury, saved her on horseback, and took her on a long-haul truck ride. After he met a love interest, Sadie, he began exhibiting controlling behavior with both her and Tara. He physically abused Tara when she stood up for herself in one of these instances, pushing her head into their dirty toilet by her hair. He began calling her a whore and getting angry with her for growing into a woman. He punished her for this with more physical abuse, and one day Tyler returned home to see him hurting Tara. Tyler encouraged Tara to study for the ACT and go to college.
Shawn sustained a head injury after falling headfirst onto concrete from a raised pallet, and Tara wanted to believe that his aggression was a result of his accident. She took her ACT and earned a high score. Despite her mother’s encouragement, her father disapproved and actively discouraged her. When Shawn had a motorcycle accident, Tara went against her father’s wishes by bringing him to the hospital. Soon after, Tara began studying for her bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University and moved in with new roommates. Her ignorance was overwhelming; she did not know about major historical events nor how to study for exams. Once back home, her father forced her to work for him. Tara and Charles struck a romance, but she felt uncomfortable with her feminine and sexual expression. Shawn and her father both made fun of her, and when she returned to school and new roommates, her emotional and financial stress caused ulcers and nightmares.
Educated A Memoir Characters
Tara experienced physical and emotional abuse from Shawn when she continued to return home. He beat her in front of Charles on Thanksgiving Day and in the grocery store parking lot. Despite Tara’s struggles, she did well in school. She was confronted by the bishop about her lack of interest in dating and he gave her moral support at first, then financial support by suggesting she apply for a government grant. Tara learned about bipolar disorder, diagnosing her father as such, and chose to attempt living an average life. She was called back home, though, when her father sustained life-threatening burns. Shawn married Emily before Tara began a semester at Cambridge University. At the suggestion of her professor, she applied for Cambridge’s master’s grant and won. Cambridge was where Tara first learned about feminism.
Educated A Memoir Sparknotes
Tara visited Audrey and received a message from her after returning to Cambridge that described her willingness to confess her experience with Shawn’s abuse. Tara returned home after Grandma-down-the-hill died and Shawn told her he wanted to kill Audrey for speaking out. When she confronted her parents about the threat, her father denied her and called Shawn over, putting Tara in danger. Audrey denied that she had a problem with Shawn and her father gave her a blessing to accept her back into the family, but Tara refused this offer. Tara visited her family once more, but when she found an email from her mother discrediting Tara, she decided to leave home and not return. Tyler and his wife wrote a letter to Tara and her parents, and this show of support motivated Tara to turn around her failing PhD and attend counseling. Tara earned her doctorate, and because her mother would not allow Tara to see her without her father, Tara created bonds with her maternal extended family instead.