Quick Synopsis

In this “affecting…intriguing…heartbreaking” (Booklist) coming-of-age memoir, Rob Henderson vividly recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, attending elite universities, and pioneering the concept of “luxury beliefs”—ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class while inflicting costs on the less fortunate.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met, ultimately shuttling between ten different foster homes in California. When he was adopted into a loving family, he hoped that life would finally be stable and safe. But divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence marked his adolescent and teen years, propelling Henderson to join the military upon completing high school.

A “vivid, insightful, poignant, and powerful” (Nicholas A. Christakis, author of Blueprint) portrait of shattered families, desperation, and determination, Troubled recounts Henderson’s expectation-defying young life and juxtaposes his story with those of his friends who wound up incarcerated or killed.

As he navigates the peaks and valleys of social class, Henderson finds that he remains on the outside looking in. His greatest achievements—a military career, an undergraduate education from Yale, a PhD from Cambridge—feel like hollow measures of success. He argues that stability at home is more important than external accomplishments, and he illustrates the ways the most privileged among us benefit from a set of social standards that actively harm the most vulnerable.

Book Review

When I saw this cover months ago, I knew I would read this book. Thanks to having some necessary driving to do, I finally had some time to listen to this audiobook.

Troubled is the memoir of Rob Henderson, a transracial adoptee who grew up in poverty and an unstable home. After graduating high school, Rob joined the military and eventually matriculated at Yale University and Cambridge University, where he developed the concept of “luxury beliefs.”

If this book ended about two-thirds of the way through, I would have given it a much higher rating. The actual memoir portion of Troubled is an interesting, coming-of-age story with observations about the effects of household instability. Henderson writes his narrative in a blunt, factual manner, with each chapter capturing him at a different age. He leaves the chapters without much observation or analysis, allowing readers to come to their own conclusions. Then, he ends the memoir portion by proposing a thesis about the effect of stable, loving homes utilizing research as well as ancedotes from his own upbringing.

Unfortunately, the entire memoir portion of Troubled is seemingly intended to soften up readers for Henderson’s half-baked manifesto that makes up the last third of the book. 

I can assume from this manifesto that Henderson had not encountered certain beliefs prior to Yale. Instead of thinking about the beliefs, listening to other’s life experiences, and discussing them, he simply decided to frame them within his limited mindset at the time. From this, he shares what he has termed “luxury beliefs” and his shallow observations of college-aged, privileged liberals. Henderson’s conclusions on social class rely on weak arguments and little data or studies. As someone who has lived a similar life to Henderson, I can understand how he he drew his conclusions, and it is apparent that he developed them with little input from opposing viewpoints. In the end, Henderson presents everything as fact and seemingly wants readers to revel in his brilliance, despite presenting what individuals should not do and offering no solutions.

Overall, Troubled is a moving and engaging memoir that is overshadowed by the author’s weak theories on social class that appear poised for a future political campaign. I would recommend reading the memoir portion of this book but urge you to skip the manifestor or, at the very least, read it with a critical eye.

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