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. He was wrong: tragedy, poverty and violence marked his adolescent years. An unflinching portrait of shattered families, desperation, and determination, this recounts how Henderson eventually managed to find an escape route through the military, which led to an academic career at Yale and Cambridge. He dissects the hypocrisies of contemporary social class and shows how the most privileged among us benefit from a set of 'luxury beliefs' that actively harm the most vulnerable.