244 pages
English language
Published Nov. 8, 2008 by Holt Paperbacks.
The author's experience holding low-wage jobs in three parts of the U.S. in the late 1990s.
In which an upper class white lady bumbles into the low-wage work force and discovers that -gasp- it's really hard! The pompousness in the tone was just a chore to slug through, despite the interesting concept. There's even a part where she feels marginalized in a grocery store for being in her maid uniform and wonders if 'this is what black people feel like'. Goodness gracious.
It is telling of my own life experiences and class background that I require reading a book like this to understand how so many lives can be lived in this manner. I've never been to England in the 1500s, either - so at least I have books. She goes off the rails in her last section, on Wal-Mart, but overall excellent ethnographic reporting.
A friend told me about this book five years ago, and I finally got around to reading it. While I admire Ms. Ehrenreich's desire to go old-school journalism and spend these months working minimum wage jobs (God knows I couldn't do it), I was disappointed that so much of the book seemed to be a description of these tedious jobs. I've worked in a school cafeteria and a 1 hour photo booth, so I already know crap jobs. I was really hoping for a cultural analysis of the working poor with a greater insight into their plight (which I did get...but at the end of the book.) I would really only recommend this book if you find yourself whining about your desk job (which I've been known to do too often). Just remember that it's always better than working at Wal-Mart.
Very interesting and impressive book. It's about people struggling through live and working and living on minimum wages. Although it could have been deepened out a little more, it still gives great insight in the lives of others.
Complete review on [www.cessiesbookjourney.blogspot.com]
I made the mistake of looking over some of the reviews when I was adding it here to my list. The opinions are pretty divided: the conservatives pretty much attack her credentials (or attack her ad hominem; point is sympathy is usually lacking in these folks), and those who agree seem to do uncritically (i.e. they don't question the author as much). I will try to put those opinions aside as I read it myself. I have been meaning to read it because some of the freshman composition classes where I used to work as a librarian read it for their classes. I finished the introduction, so I am already clear on the conditions of her experiment. We'll see how the rest of the book goes.
* *
See my blog post on it:
http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/12/booknote-nickel-and-dimed.html
In the GoodReads scheme, I gave it 3 stars for a book I liked. It …
I made the mistake of looking over some of the reviews when I was adding it here to my list. The opinions are pretty divided: the conservatives pretty much attack her credentials (or attack her ad hominem; point is sympathy is usually lacking in these folks), and those who agree seem to do uncritically (i.e. they don't question the author as much). I will try to put those opinions aside as I read it myself. I have been meaning to read it because some of the freshman composition classes where I used to work as a librarian read it for their classes. I finished the introduction, so I am already clear on the conditions of her experiment. We'll see how the rest of the book goes.
* *
See my blog post on it:
http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/12/booknote-nickel-and-dimed.html
In the GoodReads scheme, I gave it 3 stars for a book I liked. It is not a book I really like since I wish things were better, thus not needing to write books like these. That is the idealist part of me. She does get a bit preachy at time,s which I think can detract, so that also made me not give it a higher rating. However, I do highly recommend it to others out there.
