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

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America | Barbara Ehrenreich | The Invisible Americans

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Nickel and Dimed: ...

	Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Barbara Ehrenreich Metropolitan Books, 2001 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 1079 reviews view larger image
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Maid and Wal-Martian

While Nickel and Dimed is not exactly the kind of book I can say that I enjoyed, it's definitely the kind of book I find informative and consciousness-raising. As a consequence of reading it, I will never see a Wal-Mart employee, hotel maid, house cleaner, or restaurant server in the same light as before. Ehrenreich's clear, direct writing pulls no punches as she gives the reader a realistic view of her under cover experiences working in a variety of minimum wage jobs.

Ehrenreich, who has a Ph.D. in biology, approached her year of trying to live as a minimum wage employee the way that a scientist would. She even set up certain rules, two of which were that she would not fall back on any of her skills derived from education and that she would take the highest-paying job offered to her and do her best to hold it. By the way, the fact that she mentions her Ph.D. on more than one occasion evidently bothers some other reviewers and readers, but to me it added more credibility to her work. She not only had the credentials to carry out the research, but she actually did so. Another point that Ehrenreich makes is that regardless of education or intellect, there's still a learning curve for every job. Many times she felt inadequate, overwhelmed, and even disappointed in her ability (or inability) to do a job.

There are far too many situations that Ehrenreich described to enumerate them all, so I'll just mention a couple. Living conditions were horrendous for her (once there was sewage backed up and all over her floor), and yet many of her co-workers lived in cars, motel rooms, and flophouses. All of her jobs were eye-opening, but her stint as a maid in Maine was the most enlightening. One of my favorite passages in the book is when the owner of a million-dollar condo takes her into the bathroom and asks her to scrub the grout extra hard since the marble walls have been "bleeding" onto the brass fixtures. Ehrenreich restrains herself from telling the owner that it's the world-wide working class that's been bleeding as they quarried the marble, wove the Persian rugs until they went blind, smelted the steel for the nails, etc. I hope and pray (really) that conditions for Wal-Mart employees have improved since Ehrenreich's time there in 1998.

Read this book if you dare. I can guarantee that you'll never take your Chili's lunch, your automobile, your air conditioned home, your career, the nicely stocked shelves at Wal-Mart, or the fluffy towels in your hotel room for granted again.

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The Invisible Americans

I found Nickel and Dimed to be a good book. I read it for my ESL class and it helped me to improve my vocaburaly even though it was so hard at the beginning. It was amazing to realize how some Americans being Americans - as Barbara said in Nickel and Dimed - being white, English speakers, struggle in their own land with an unreasonable economic system. Barbara shows very well how poor workers are unable to live with their wages. The working class experience incredible and some times inhuman circumstances just to survive. Nickel and Dimed shows some of the terrible working conditions, and the result of them in most of those workers. It shows also how the same system is designed - in my opinion - not to help and assist these people.

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Depressing look at the land of opportunity

Typically I'm skeptical of broad extrapolations based on anecdotal evidence, but Ehrenreich made that technique work in this book by supporting her observations with well-done research often dropped in as footnotes. The sense of desperation of the working poor is palpable. This book makes a statement about increasing class disparity in the US which is truly shameful.

Nickel and Dimed

In my spare time, I enjoy reading about American problems and issues not directly known to the general audience. I found myself reading Nickel and Dimed, an intriguing story about an adventurous journalist going undercover, into the minimum wage world. Ehrenreich explores the working life of a maid, housekeeper, waitress, and Wal-Mart associate. Barbara shows how even in the best case scenario of being childless and healthy can create many obstacles and challenges. The main idea of this book is that every job requires a skill, no matter how low the wages are. Regardless of your specific field of work, you will be sure to encounter unreasonable management, difficult physical and mental labor, as well as pushy consumers or costumers. The bottom line is that rent and transportation is too expensive and minimum wage jobs simply will not support a person in the long run.

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My attitude to Nickel and Dimed

My attitude about the book named "Nickel and Dimed" is that I think it is normal thing for me about how low wage-workers survive in their lives. They have to survive in the terrible situation because they have no choice. Poor people have to live in the car or small shelters incase they don't have their own house. They have to be insulted by many rich people. They are afraid to be fired because it is very difficult to find jobs. This information is not new for me. I think the strong part of this book is about the vocabulary. I can see how I improve my reading after reading this book. Because it is so difficult sentence and have a lot of vocabulary compared with other books. In the fact that I am an International student, it is difficult for me, but I think for American people, this book is very good. Barbara's sentences and detail can picture readers and express how she felt when she worked as the low-wage worker. I tell honestly that at the first time I buy this book, I think after I finish my study, I will ell it. Now I already change my mine. I want to keep this book and reread many time until I already master at reading. I string believe that this book can improve my reading. I am happy that my teacher uses this book for reading class. Thanks to my teacher, Heather. I can understand what you want from us.

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