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Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (平装)
by Barbara Ehrenreich
| Category:
American society, Poverty, Unskilled labor, Non-fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 148.00
MSL price:
¥ 138.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An American dilemma vividly investigated through excellent field research. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 18 items |
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Diana Henriques (The New York Times), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
... you will read this explosive little book cover to cover and pass it on to all your friends and relatives.
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Susannah Meadows (Newsweek) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Jarring, full of riveting grit... This book is already unforgettable.
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Anne Colamosca (BusinessWeek) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Angry, amusing... An in-your-face expose. |
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Eileen Boris (The Boston Globe) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
With grace and wit, Ehrenreich discovers... the irony of being nickel and dimed during unprecedented prosperity.
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Stephen Metcalf (Los Angeles Times Book Review) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Ehrenreich is a superb and relaxed stylist [with] a tremendous sense of rueful humor.
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Dorothy Gallagher (The New York Times Book) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
Barbara Ehrenreich... is our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism.
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The New York Times (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
One of today's most original writers. |
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The New Yorker (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
This exposé puts human flesh on the bones of such abstractions as "living wage" and "affordable housing." Ehrenreich worked, for a month at a time, at "unskilled" jobs - as a waitress and chambermaid in Florida, a housecleaner and nursing-home aide in Maine, a Wal-Mart clerk in Minnesota - to report on how people survive on wages of six or seven dollars an hour. In an easy, conversational style, she brings us the daily life of the working poor and shows that their diligence and good nature cannot earn them a place to live - a social worker advised Ehrenreich to move to a shelter - or medical or dental care or, in some cases, enough to eat. In her last chapter, Ehrenreich suggests that the working poor are "the major philanthropists of our society," sacrificing their families, their health, their privacy, and their leisure so that the rest of us can live more cheaply and conveniently. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
This is the conversation we never have about the fellow Americans we live alongside. My mother made me learn to type, so my entry-level jobs were all clerical. I've never worked food service nor retail, and I had no idea how tough these workers really have it. As an office worker, even at the beginning of my working career, I always had healthcare and a retirement plan. (Even when, as an 18 year old, I couldn't have cared less about either.) This book revealed a world I never looked closely at, and I found these stories impossible to forget. In addition to the difficulty of starting out without housing or a nest egg, the working conditions are harsh and someone is making a lot of money off their labors. That's so disturbing and disheartening. Yet the women are courageous and their generosity of spirit is touching. I appreciate Ehrenreich's efforts, but like many others here, I wasn't crazy about her style. She talks all the time about the bad diets these poor women have - too many processed foods, too much sugar - and the negative impact this has on their health and lives. Yet since smoking is a vice she shares, there's little if anything about the cost and health hazards of the cigarettes she bums from her coworkers. I wish that she had taken a clerical job. It's been many long decades since I was a secretary (back when they were still called secretaries!) and I wonder how computers have effected that line of work. She's also continually shocked that these women don't fall over themselves when they find they're working with a published author, which is annoying and condescending. But still, I'm glad I read this book. |
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Ben Roberts (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-11 00:00>
The book Nickel and Dimed is a captivating piece of journalism in which Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover in three cities to discover what life is like for single women who earn minimum wage. At the beginning of the book she develops a set of guidelines for herself to follow such as find low rent housing, no sleeping in the car, never reveal her motive in this project until the end of each job which would last about a month, and if she was dangerously low on money she would then allow herself to use the ATM card. In the three states of Florida, Maine, and Minnesota, Barb, as she later began to refer to herself, took up jobs as a waitress and hotel maid in Key West, a cleaning lady in a maid service as well as a nursing home aid in Portland, and a Wal-Mart associate in Minneapolis. In her book Ehrenreich changed the names of the people she worked with and the apartments, trailer parks, and motels that she stayed in. The restaurant, hotel, and maid service she worked for all had fictitious names except for Wal-Mart. Through all of her time and tribulations Barbara made friends very quickly with her coworkers and learned the little tips and secrets to how they survive on such meager pay.
What I believed to be very inspiring was the fact that Barbara stood up for her coworkers and friends at times when she thought that they deserved better than what they were getting or how they were being treated by their bosses. In one part of the book she describes the orientation process at Wal-Mart where she and 12 other new employees sat in a small conference room watching videos about the Wal-Mart lifestyle. One video explained to the workers why unions were such a bad idea and how they should avoid joining a union or even starting one up on their own; this video was brainwashing these new employees. She also made it a point to show the reader that the cost of housing is rising dramatically to the point where very few people can rent a decent apartment or even a trailer.
Ehrenreich's investigative journalism is top notch. While she did give the reader many facts and statistics from labor laws to law suits, she tied them to story very nicely which makes this book a great read. The writing style is casual and conversational, but otherwise her writing is very clear and precise. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the struggle of people who make about six or seven dollars an hour for their honest labor. What I found to be very surprising was that many of my friends had either heard about the book or had been required to read it for their high school class. This book really changed my thinking on the value of a dollar and how so many people today work these types of minimum wage jobs that are very necessary to our economy and barely survive. Mrs. Ehrenreich has written over 12 books dealing with non-fiction journalism and she is a frequent contributor of many high ranking magazines such as Time, The New Republic, Harper's Magazine, and The Nation. |
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1 2 | Total 2 pages 18 items |
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