books about: working-class

books about: working-class

books:

Working-class

The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous: Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Ken Wells

Yale University Press, 2008

"Damn, that SOB is coming up fast!"
I've rarely read as gripping, horrifying, and inspiring a book as Ken Wells' story of what happened when The Storm hit the low-lying bayou parishes of St. Bernard and Plaquemines. As a reporter for the "Wall Street Journal," Wells, himself a Louisiana native, saw the ...

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

Barbara Ehrenreich

Holt Paperbacks, 2002

Must read for the 'Haves' in this country
I have to admit, I grew up as person of privilege. I am from a large home in suburbia and drove a Mercedes SUV to high school every day. I was always taught to appreciate the things you have, and how lucky I am. Being born into wealth doesn't take talent, it takes ...

The Working Poor: Invisible in America

David K. Shipler

Vintage, 2005

This should be required reading in US high schools!
Having gone down my own path of working at minimum-wage jobs, being a single mother, receiving food stamps and Medicaid for a short time when my child was small and I had to be home with her, this was a poignant read. Since that time I was able to complete my degree ...

This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation

Barbara Ehrenreich

Metropolitan Books, 2008

Ms Ehrenreich is the voice of our conscience, or should be.
This collection of brief observations is pithy and to the point, and each one takes just a few minutes to read. But you should read slowly because otherwise the sudden rise in blood pressure they elicit may be harmful to your health. As I'm writing this, the economic ...

The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition

Upton Sinclair

See Sharp Press, 2003

The reason I pay my union dues
Living in a right-to-work state, you forget why we have unions. As a teenager, I read this book for school and fell in love with it. My parents and family were all union backers (teachers, firefighters, etc.), but I did not understand why we had unions. Then I read ...

All over but the Shoutin'

Rick Bragg

Vintage, 1998

Destined to be a Southern classic ... !
Destined to be a Southern classic, Bragg's "All Over But the Shoutin'" rings true. It is not only a well-written, journalist's memoir, but offers readers who aren't from the South an insightful look at why Southern men often act as they do. On the one hand the book ...

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do

Studs Terkel

New Press, 1997

how people see their job tells a lot about them
What's engaging about this is the stories. Studs is known for his work getting people to tell their stories. This is one of his contributions to the cultural history of America, told first person, in a way that is timeless and just as relevant today as when it was ...

The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker (Borzoi Books)

Steven Greenhouse

Knopf, 2008

A Compelling Account of Capitalism Run Amok!
Greenhouse's focus is to ask "Why, in the world's most affluent nation, are so many corporations intent on squeezing their workers dry?" Corporate profits, economic growth, and worker productivity have grown strongly, while pay has languished. Median income for ...

Great Expectations (Dover Thrift Editions)

Charles Dickens

Dover Publications, 2001

One of the best novels ever written
Without a doubt this has to be one of the greatest novels of all time. I won't say it's the best just because once a work of art attains greatness I find it quite incomparable to other great works. Great works are ones which have fully succeeded in expressing the ...

America America: A Novel

Ethan Canin

Random House, 2008

A familiar, mythical story well told
Much of this book is about life as reflected by Canin. Maybe his thoughts maybe others or maybe a combination - hard to tell. What is apparent is the ideas are mostly rehashed. I won't say the philosophy, and there's ample, is sophomoric but it is obvious and ...

The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China from the Bottom Up

Liao Yiwu

Pantheon, 2008

Deeply memorable collection of stories - highly recommended
I read this book after seeing a positive review in the Chicago Tribune and it did not disappoint. Each story of everyday Chinese citizens and their struggles was very memorable, touching and thought-provoking. As an American, I also found it very enlightening, and ...

Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

Three Rivers Press, 2001

A Must Read!
An engrossing and insightful book, with first-person accounts of what it's like to work in more than a hundred different job categories - from ambulance chaser to street walker, from psychiatrist to mortician, from lobbyist to commercial fisherman, from CEO to clutter ...

Work: The World in Photographs

Ferdinand Protzman

National Geographic, 2006

A powerful tribute to the world of work makes for an exceptional celebration.
Cultural writer Ferdinand Protzman explores some of the world's finest images of men, women and children at work, packing in almost two hundred images spanning some 150 years from the beginnings of photography to modern times. Eighty top photographers from around the ...

Making of the English Working Class

E.P. Thompson

Vintage, 1966

A Classic in the Field of Social and Labor History
Well, it took me darn near a month to finish this monster (800+ pages) of a book. Can't say I regret the experience, though. Truly , this is a masterpiece, both in terms of its substance and its approach. I could quite easily write more then a thousand words on this ...

Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream

Ross Douthat, Reihan Salam

Doubleday, 2008

He had me by page 7.
Douthat argues that "'social issues' from abortion and marriage law to the death penalty and immigration, aren't just red herrings distracting the working class from their economic struggles, as liberals have insisted for the better part of forty years. Rather, ...