Maybe You Should Aim a Little Lower
Publisher: Atlas Contact
A personal and raw story about the impact of poverty and unequal opportunities
The house Milio van de Kamp grows up in regularly has no light or hot water, and crime is commonplace in the neighbourhood where he lives. Yet he eventually manages what so many fail to do: escape from poverty. Although his teacher advises him to ‘aim a little lower’, he manages to reach university from secondary school. But social ascent does not come without sacrifices.
In Maybe You Should Aim a Little Lower, Milio writes about the impact of poverty and unequal opportunities based on his own experiences. Alienation from your family, not feeling fully at home anywhere, high debts, depression. Again and again, he runs up against the stigmas surrounding poverty. This book exposes the complexity of social inequality and acknowledges the unimaginable resilience of those who are confronted with their unequal starting position in life from an early age.
Praise:
‘He wrote an illuminating, courageous and personal book about the long road he has travelled, filled both with failure and perseverance.’ – de Volkskrant
‘The story Milio tells is harrowing and courageous … With this book, Milio van de Kamp has explained and exposed this problem (inequality of opportunity) engagingly and in clear terms.’ – De Leestafel
‘The harrowing events chronicled by Van de Kamp evoke the same sentiment as the documentary series Classes, although Van de Kamp portrays them even worse and more raw.’ – Trouw
Rights sold to Friedrich Mauke Verlag (Germany)
