Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century (2017) by Jessica Bruder

I wanted to enjoy this book, I really wanted to. And, to some extent I did. My issue with this book is that it’s far too long for its own good and the repetitive nature of its content begins to discredit the very point it is trying to make. The first 60% of this book was the same story told over, and over, simply with a different subject. Amazon. Camping. Living frugally. The economy has gone to shit. This narrative could have been captured in a shorter amount of time, leaving room and attention for much more.

The last portion of the book, where the author takes of #vanlife as a means to better understand the lives of their subjects, and to gain the trust of certain subjects so that they will open up and share more—this is where the most interesting portion of the story lies. Unfortunately, the author takes too long to get to this point.

Truth be told, I gave up on this book when I was about 80% of the way through. I couldn’t bear to invest any more time in it hoping that some diamond might appear out of the rough. Like my boss always said, “hope isn’t a strategy.”