Present Books To Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
| Original Title: | Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America |
| ISBN: | 0805063897 (ISBN13: 9780805063899) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://us.macmillan.com/nickelanddimed/BarbaraEhrenreich |
| Literary Awards: | Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest (2001), ALA Alex Award (2002) |
Barbara Ehrenreich
Paperback | Pages: 240 pages Rating: 3.63 | 174255 Users | 6323 Reviews
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Reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity--a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the "lowliest" occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity--a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor.
Specify Based On Books Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
| Title | : | Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America |
| Author | : | Barbara Ehrenreich |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 240 pages |
| Published | : | May 1st 2002 by Owl Books (Henry Holt) (first published May 8th 2001) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Sociology. Politics. Economics. Autobiography. Memoir. Social Issues. Poverty. Social Movements. Social Justice |
Rating Based On Books Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
Ratings: 3.63 From 174255 Users | 6323 ReviewsCriticize Based On Books Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
Here's a down and dirty assessment of Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich:First the positive:- Interesting premise: writer decides to try to live on the wages that unskilled workers (waitresses, home/hotel cleaners, department store [Walmart, for instance] clerks) earn to see if she can do it and see if she learns anything in the process.- She exposes some very unethical (even illegal) employer practices such as withholding a workers first paycheck until the second pay period.- She notesDear Barbara Ehrenreich, How do I resent thee? Let me count the ways:1. You are a wealthy, highly educated person who went on a half-assed, anthropological slumming vacation.2. When said vacation was over, you told your coworkers: "Surprise! I'm not a poor person after all! I'm going back now to my comfortable life!"...and then you were surprised that those coworkers were mostly worried about the fact that they'd have to work the next shift with one less person.3. You also were surprised that
The two sentence summary of this book is: PhD and respected writer decides to find out how the other two-thirds live. To this end she goes undercover as an unskilled laborer at three minimum wage jobs (waitress, Wal-mart employee and Merry-Maid) each in a different city, each for one month.Things I liked:The premise. Things I hated:1. Her shocked tone of discovery. Newsflash! Living on minimum wage is hard/nigh on impossible! Educated people have it pretty easy comparatively! Entry level minimum
DISCLAIMER: This is my rant on the classic Marxist rant by Barbara Ehrenreich in the form of Nickel and Dimed. REALLY. I am not saying that we should not help poor people. I am mostly just annoyed by the author. If my political ranting will bother you, please don't read this. AND if you do, you are not allowed to think less of me. You may disagree, but know that I actually am a nice, caring, empathetic person. :) Unfortunately, Ehrenreich did not present much shocking or new information in her
Ergh. I read this book while in grad school, taking an anthropology class.I was also earning a whopping $5.83 an hour, and reading this book just made me grind my teeth.Totally fatuous piece of crap. It STILL ticks me off. I felt like she was so patronizing and rude. It seemed like yet another case of some stupid rich white person talking about the plight of the poor and the downtrodden, all while doing absolutely NOTHING to help alleviate it. Not to mention whining about how hard it is. URGH.
Okay, I suddenly got a Like on my non-review of this book, so I'm going to say a few words about it, which I've thought off and on for a while.I've seen very put-downish reviews here on GR about the book, and more so about the author.It's held that Ehrenreich was a fake, had no idea what the working poor face, was just trying to make a buck off them, the book totally discredited because she had money and could just walk away when she was finished, or if she got in trouble, yada yada. This sort
Very quick explanation of the premise of this one: a woman, who is a writer/journalist, is talking to her publisher about what she wants to write about next and says, someone ought to write a book about how hard it is to get by on the minimum wage in America. The publisher says, Okey-dokey (the book is set in the US so Im trying to give you a feeling of verisimilitude) youve hired. (High fives all around)Before I started this book I really worried. I mean, Im a bit of a worrier anyway but
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