Nickel and Dimed is one scary reality slap of a book. The author works a series of minimum wage jobs to see how and/or if one can manage on poverty level pay. For her, you know it is just a writing assignment, painful and unpleasant, but temporary. What's most frightening is the unrelenting harshness of the situations in which her "co-workers" are trying to survive.. It made me so thankful for the grand comforts of lower middle class.

She also exposes the truly nasty, unsanitary cleaning practices of Merry Maids. That was an eye opener. GROSS!

barbara | June 4, 2004 10:19 AM

Thanks for the heads-up, Manda.

I read N&D last fall, and while I was appalled by much of what I read, I really disliked the book -- and its narrator. Primarily, that's because Ehrenreich makes herself the star, not the people she's supposedly chronicling. Plus, she's obnoxiously whiny, and continually breaks her own rules for the project. I think the subject matter deserved a better writer, or at least better treatment.

Andy | June 4, 2004 11:06 PM

Interesting enough, shortly after I posted this, one of my best friends went to the Commencement at UMASS. Guess who was the speaker? Here is the post on his blog. There's also a link in the comments from the graduate to thoughts that the students had after hearing her speak. It was a pleasant surprise for him.

Barbara Ehrenreich at UMASS Commencement

Personally, I didn't mind her "rule breaking" in the book. I think that it proved her point a bit more; she cheated and still had a tremendous time getting by.

manda | June 26, 2004 12:17 PM