By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.
What Debt Demands
Family, Betrayal, and Precarity in a Broken System
Contributors
Formats and Prices
Price
$30.00Price
$40.00 CADFormat
Format:
- Hardcover $30.00 $40.00 CAD
- Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $27.99
Also available from:
At 22 years old, Kristin Collier was on the verge of college graduation, applying for a credit card to cover expenses before her teaching career began. She handed the banker her social security number and birthdate, excited to embark on her adult life. But the man returned, unsmiling and holding a lengthy copy of her credit report. He told her in no uncertain terms that she didn’t qualify for even the lowest line of credit. In fact, she had a shocking amount of debt already: a handful of credit card debts and dozens of private student loans, which she’d known nothing about. In total, she owed over $200,000. How could this have happened? She struggled to breathe.
WHAT DEBT DEMANDS is a nuanced and poignant meditation on indebtedness and its consequences. Kristin paints a vivid portrait of her own experience with personal debt, navigating the complex student lending system alongside her evolving relationship with the person who stole from her, a family member she loved and trusted. Weaving in interviews with student borrowers, historical analysis, cultural critique, and research into the higher education system, she reveals debt’s profound impact on every aspect of our lives, our relationships, and our world. As Kristin explores how and why our nation arrived here and what it will take to heal her own financial and familial wounds, WHAT DEBT DEMANDS illuminates the unjust world that already exists and points to a better one: a world where all students, regardless of race or wealth, can access free education. And one in which we are not bound to the state but to each other.
- On Sale
- Nov 18, 2025
- Page Count
- 320 pages
- Publisher
- Grand Central Publishing
- ISBN-13
- 9781538764985
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use