Welcome to Aeon’s archive week. Every so often we like to give the spotlight to a selection of past, outstanding Aeon Essays. This time, we’re celebrating Essays that have led to successful books. Below you’ll find a link to one such Essay, as well as an exclusive quote from the author. You’ll also find an exceptional video from our library which has a thematic connection to the work. 

From this Essay, Sarah Smarsh went on to have success with her book, Bone of the Bone (2024).

‘As a writer who has been publishing work on socioeconomic class for well over twenty years, I often point to “Poor Teeth” as the essay that created a global audience for my voice. By 2014, I had a national byline as an American journalist published in major magazines. Nonetheless, I found – to my frustration – that US media outlets remained reluctant to center the topic of class, which I knew spelled trouble for my society. Thankfully, Aeon published this piece that several American magazines declined. I soon heard from thousands of people around the world connecting with the essay, which is seemingly about access to dentistry but contains deeper themes of the psychological and physical stresses of economic strife. Readers sent me their own stories of pain and hardship. The truth in “Poor Teeth” transcends my direct experience of poverty in rural Kansas. The title of my 2024 essay collection, “Bone of the Bone”, comes from the first line of the essay.’

– Sarah Smarsh