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

I believe that every single parent should read this book right before their kids graduate college. I have graduated from college, have my degree, and I'll be danged if I can find a decent paying job with insurance. Our Wal-mart was going to pay me only 6.75 an hour..and that was with money added in for years spent working on a farm..and that was with my degree. Not something a person could live on. This book is a must so that people can understand why so many college kids are coming back home (like I did). You just can't make it out there anymore it seems, and 7 bucks an hour won't pay the rent...and that is being serious.

An eye-opener, though I wish people of all financial status and age could have the opportunity to read this. Provides just the icing on the cake insight into the "working class." Quite interesting to see the growing paranoia of the author as she struggles to find semi-decent housing- perhaps this was the biggest struggle she had to face during her research. She does end with some broad rather PC conclusions but you have to remember that she's now back to her high-paying job and upper-middle class lifestyle. She's able to end on a cheery note that does not match the true dire conditions of the struggling working class Americans.

Wow...and I thought "I" didn't make enough money! Eye opening, surely! Truly makes you think about the true meaning of a 'living wage'.

This was a very interesting social experiment about living (or not being able to live) on minimum wage. She works 5 different jobs throughout the book and talks about each one in detail. I really enjoyed it!

Great insights into the working poor. I would highly recommend this book! It was a highly interesting and fast read.

Great book for all to read, especially young people who think they don't need a college or trade school education to get by.

Making it (or not) on minimum wage in America. Life as a daily search for minimum wage work and affordable housing in the "land of plenty". Ehrenreich demonstrates that she couldn't have made it on the "mean streets", but her report ennobles those that have no choice but to do just that, every day.
Nickel and Dimed is a quick, entertaining and important read.

Thought provoking, especially to those of us who have been lucky enough not to struggle just to put a roof over our heads or food in our mouths. Even more interesting than the wage issues, were the company policies and behavior of "management" in the places the author worked.

A voyeuristic look at low-wage jobs (restaurant servers, Walmart clerks, maid services, nursing home operations) seen through short stints performed by the author. While Ehrenreich is pushing measures that will increase wages and resources for the lower class and includes some commentary throughout the book, she spends a lot more time focusing on her experience than arguing the issue and its potential solutions.

I thought this book was eye-opening - especially the working conditions and heavy-handed management scrutiny that this segment of the labor pool faces.

3 stars out of 5

The author raised many valuable sociological points concerning the plight of the working poor in America that makes this book a needed read for those of us in the more secure and comfortable class. As an economic experiment of trying to live off of minimum wage jobs, the experiment was so baldly flawed as to not yield any valid conclusions.

Considering myself as someone who pays attention to the "alternative" media, not much of this book came as a big surprise to me. I do think that it's a must-read for everyone, no matter what your class or financial status.

Ehrenreich, was ultimately not able to survive in the world of the working-poor she was investigating undercover. That's even with some advantages that many in that world do not have the luxury of, such as a car.

The biggest surprise to many might be that her "experiment" was conducted during Bill Clinton's presidency - a time of unsurpassed prosperity in the US. The author points out that prosperity results in higher property prices and rents, and so the poor are priced out of a home, leading to living in cars, sharing with others, and so on.

This book also admirably illustrates why the poor often do nothing to improve their circumstances once they get a job. They are made to feel worthless and fearful by a management style designed to turn the workforce into a malleable commodity. Once they are working, they often cannot afford to look for work elsewhere.

I was hoping for this to be a sensational expose, and I guess that for many it is. For me, though, it was an accurate journalistic account, but not full of new revelations.

Before you consider that trip to Wal-Mart (or consider whether it's wise to stand silent when one is proposed in your area), go out to eat or hire the "Merry Maids", you might want to read this first.

Ehrenreich has a very entertaining and informative website, containing, amongst other features, a blog and a guest commentary section.

For Americans who think they understand capitalism and our economy, this book is eye opening. Barbara Ehrenreich's experiences as a hard-working, rent-and tax-paying citizen demonstrate the reality and falsehood of living the American dream.

As one of the working poor in the United States who has spent a lot of the last 20 years as a server this book was so insulting I couldn't finish it. The writer is astonished that no one "finds her out" that she is just pretending to be one of us "lower class" people. She wrote about the restaurant business like they are all homeless alcoholics making $6 an hour. Obviously she just wasn't very good at it... I never made less than $25 an hour serving and not all in expensive restaurants- I made the most at an all-night diner. The book was just insulting and not done well in my opinion, it doesn't really give a clear picture and is completely false in many ways.

The book that started it all! Going from low-paying job to low-paying job, author Barbara Ehrenreich shows how difficult it is to survive on the current minimum wage. Don't think low-paying means no work. Usually it's the grunt work or the work no one wants to do. It's exhausting, it's back-breaking, and sometimes it's demeaning.

This book was an eye opener into the life of many people, however, I did not care for the writer. She was somewhat arrogant in her writing.

I had mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the idea of the book is an excellent one. Not only should it be required reading for all high school students but it also provides good insight to those who have had the good fortune not to be a low-wage earner trying to get by on a meager income. When reading the book I started to do the math on how little a minimum wage job really pays. There was a time I worked those jobs (while in college) but I never had to rely on them to raise a family and support a household. I don't see how it would be possible to do so in the current economy here in Los Angeles. It was a real eye-opener for me.

On the other hand, the writer was so biased in her writing that it really ruined the second half of the book for me. Instead of a factual account, she writes the book almost from this ivory tower perspective that I found not only annoying but insulting. The writer is an academic who is outraged by the very idea of having to do *real* work. Look, I have an advanced degree too but I don't feel like I'm too good to get my hands dirty if need be - that's life! I found her tone to be one of condesending pity and by the end of the book I was ready to throw it through the window - and I'm a socially liberal Democrat. I say, read this book with a critical eye and you will get a lot of benefit out of it.

A super-duper work of fact. I could not put this down, and needed to know what else Ms. Ehrenreich would have to put up with while trying to survive, undercover, in another minimum wage job. 5 Star - real life study of NOT getting by in America - the land of opportunity. It is a shameful commentary of all that is wrong with this nation - and written for all the right reasons. Get a copy, read it - and then tell everyone you know about the experiences Ms. Ehrenreich survives.

The author goes behind the scenes into the lives of the working poor, taking jobs as a waitress, a maid and a Walmart employee. I couldn't put this down. It's written with humor and insight.

This book certainly gave me a better appreciation of what I have even though we are not wealthy we certainly have it a lot better than the people the author met over the course of her research.

Interesting read, and since I am from MN reading about Barb's difficulties in finding a place to live and earning enough to survive really made things real for me.

This book makes us look again at what we think of people who are not at the same economic level as us.

I consider myself part of the working poor and while I make more than $10/hour I am finding it very difficult to make ends meet with a car, a child, a house and no spouse.

With myself working in the service to the public area, I found this book absolutely right on. I loved it and could in part predict what a customer was going to do before it happened as i have had some of the stories happen to me. I laughed and cried with the author. She has gone "undercover" to write this and boy oh boy did she reveal what nastyness customers can inflict on a service person. Will make you open your eyes and maybe think the next time you get upset with a salesperson. Great read.

I really liked this book. However, I also enjoyed a different viewpoint presented by the book "Scratch Beginnings". It is all food for thought as we address serious political actions concerning welfare, healthcare, and accountability. Both books bring me back to the conclusion that education is the solution to most of the problems facing our society today.

Like most books I've read, memoirs that is, written by journalists, the writing is flat, dreadfully devoid of emotion. Interesting, yes. Good details about what it is like to work in Walmart, for the Maids, etc. Lots of great poop there, but the lack of emotion makes this book and others like it fall short of being a really great read. At times, I was bored even and almost quit it. (I do quit books fast though.)

this book and the author are both condescending turds.
I'll save you a few hours- here's the whole thing summed up in a few sentences; ready?
"Did you know that earning minimum wage isn't enough to get by in America today? The working poor are getting screwed and eek out terrible (third-world-esque) existences. Also, they're too uneducated and overworked to grasp their own situation. Thank god an upper-class twit like me, Barbara Ehrenreich, came around to shine a light on this overlooked tragedy. Just read this book if you want to eliminate a bit of your liberal guilt, and pretend that you understand some of the situations they face; then you can look them in the eye when they're cleaning your bathroom and taking care of your kids".

Not much about this book impressed me or opened my eyes. Granted, I very well may be biased as I was one of the working poor back in my younger days and though I earn somewhat more now, I'm not well off by any means, and we're still only a few paychecks away from disaster if the circumstances are right.

I don't feel that the author ever immersed herself in the lifestyle that she chose to write her next book about. She played at it, but she didn't truly live it on a daily basis. She had a debit card to fall back on and started each leg of her journey with cash. Blech. If you want to write about the animals in the zoo, become one of them.

The author seemed to take a voyeuristic approach and at times came off as very condescending when describing her jobs and her fellow employees. Sprinkled throughout the book are veiled and not so veiled remarks about minorities, those without much education, etc. The author chose Maine as one of her locations because of the 'whiteness' the state had to offer (and we're not talking about snow or the dead of winter).

I think she set herself up to fail (or was totally clueless). At one point, she needed slacks for work and chose to purchase a pair that set her back $40 with the justification that they would wear longer. Seriously? $40 was acceptable for a friggin' pair of slacks when you're trying to live as your fellow employees live on a daily basis? Why not ask them for suggestions on where to purchase work clothes? (I'll bet they would have suggested the nearest thrift store where the same slacks could have been purchased for a few dollars).

She also chose to live in a couple of hotels (granted, they weren't the Ritz) and turned down a more lucrative job because she didn't want to work 11 hours per day. Hello? She had no children in tow for this 'experiment', nor a husband or extended family. An 11 hour a day job that paid reasonably well given the time she conducted the research for this book was less enticing than how many folk work at two jobs, extending the gas budget, public transportation budget or shoe leather to work two jobs?

Her meal choices also baffled me. Take out just because you have no fridge or microwave available? Seriously? Less expensive and healthier choices would have been dried fruit, raisins, peanut butter and a loaf of bread, tuna and crackers, canned or fresh fruit (even bruised or less than fresh fruit on sale), etc.

I didn't totally hate this book, though it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

A great representation of participant observation, for those who are studying some modes of program evaluation. For those interested in the class gap in America, this is a unique examination of the problem.

Surprisingly easy to read but a sad commentary on survival in America, where you can work very hard and still not know where the next meal will come from.

This book is definitely illuminating for anyone who hasn't considered social justice issues or the difficulty faced by the working Americans with only a high school diploma (or less) under their belts. I was hugely disappointed with this book, however. I love the idea of Ehrenreich's "experiment" but I think the book would have carried a lot more weight if she had really committed to the piece. I'm always moved by journalists who go to great lengths to tell a story and report on segments of America that are often overlooked or simply ignored. Ehrenreich's failure to fully commit to the project just made me wish that she had left this topic to a more dedicated journalist.

This should be required reading for all high school students.

Juan

Having worked nine years for the department of welfare I have swung from being very liberal to very conservative about the people on. Now I am more moderate. I do think a job is better than no job because I think work makes us better people. If all we do is take handouts we become bottom feeders and very lazy people. But having said that the poor true working poor need safety nets to help. Cooperations do need to look at raising salaries for the working poor even if that means they make less profits. I mean come on who need to be making 90 million in just five years? Who is worth that? A very enjoyable read.

Very powerful story.

Very depressing. I didn't finish it, because I couldn't see any kind of ending that wasn't the same as the rest of it. Kinda boring, too.

Here's the honest to God truth on how hard to is to survive here in the good ole US of A. Should be required reading for anyone going into the political arena.

This book will make you think twice about the people we see everyday who are working hard and barely getting by. The author spent a year in low-wage earning jobs (waitress, house cleaning, Wal-Mart "associate") and tried to make ends meet - not always successfully. I wish Ms. Ehrenreich had some answers though. I would also love to see an update - wondering if the working poor are even worse off today. This would be a great book for a book club to read.

This was a sobering look at the lower middle class trying to survive in America. Makes you appreciated the working class people, so many just ignore their existence.

Auther goes "undercover" at some minumum wage/low wage jobs and finds out what life is like for the underpaid. Very good.

This book is a must have for any socialist or anyone who likes Michael Moore and non fictional, true to life, stories about the "working class." The journalist in question spends 3 months living life as an "average Joe" and realizes how hard life is for many people. Heart-wrenching, honest and candid without resorting to preaching or sentimentalism.

This is a very interesting book! I loved the idea that Barbara went "undercover" as a waitress, cleaning woman and Walmart employee to show how hard it is for some people in our society to get by and how unfair life in the United States can be. For anyone in this situation, it will be a confirmation that they are not the only ones. For those not in this situation, it gives a very eye-opening view to others' reality and inspires tolerance and compassion. I think this book should be required reading. Not that it is all business however. Barbara adds a poignant dose of humor and some parts are really funny. I guess she had to keep a good sense of humor to put up with some of the things she went through. 2 thumbs up.

This book was fantastic. The author takes her readers on a journey through the lives of the working poor. It's a good read for anyone. The working poor will appreciate her appreciation of them; the middle class will remember their leaner days, and appreciate what they have earned; all the rest of you will see what being poor is all about, and hopefully sympathize (and appreciate) with the working poor by the time you finish the book.

The author does a good job understanding the plight of the low income worker and the daily problems facing them. She worked in various jobs, waitress, Wal Mart, etc. in order to understand the subjects.

This book is an absolute must-read. Eye opening book on what it's like to be working poor in America.

Had to read this book while attending college...Very good book....

It's a very interesting book which gives a good perspective on the condition of the poor in the US. She makes some pretty broad conclusions on little data and spends and inordinate amount of time bashing the "wealthy" (especially considering she herself is probably wealthy). However the book is still worth reading.

It's sad to know that people who work so hard for so little don't have much time freedom as they're always working. What happened to making it in America? We may have freedoms but look how much the working poor don't have and what are the rest of us doing about it? Not much. This really woke me up to what the lower income families have to go through. What a shame.

Eye opening book. A must read for every American.

A huge eye-opener. I read this in about three hours, couldn't put it down!

Fantastic and thought provoking.

Really great insights into the modern working classes.

Really increased my awareness of the many underappreciated workers I've always dealt with who can't speak for themselves.

Very interesting... will surprise a lot of people who think the poor mostly choose to be poor.

Fascinating read.

excellent

A great story about this women who works in low paying jobs and barely gets by, which I understand after having read the book is the case with many families.

New York Times Best Seller!

From the book cover: Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them, to see how anyone can survive, let along prosper, on six to seven dollars an hour. She took the cheapest lodgings available and accepted work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. This book will change the way America perceives its working poor.

The best parts were the introduction and evaluation chapters. I wasn't impressed with the writing. Her empathy of the "working poor" did not move me as much as Morgan Spurlock's television show 28 Days, episode on poverty. Published in 2001, some of the data is out of date.

The author lives in 3 parts of the US trying to live on minimum wages. She takes a job as a cleaning person, a Wal-Mart worker, and a waitress. The hours she endures at the wages she makes are UNBELIEVABLE. This book is fascinating. What a wake up call...

A fascinating read - and a book that will definitely make you think twice the next time you check into a motel - or shop at WalMart!

Thought-provoking look at hourly-wage jobs in America today. Don't get a maid service without reading this book!

I had this book for awhile before I got to it.

Everyone in American should read this. Not because it's all accurate but because it makes you think about the issues and act a bit differently towards others. Excellent book!

This is a great book - everyone should read this.

If there's a required reading list for the English-speaking world, this book goes on it. Near the top. Intensely readable, thought-provoking, and amazing in general.

Condescending in some parts but overall a very quick & enjoyable, although disturbing, read.

Thought the author is far too liberal for my taste, this is a very interesting account of her spending a year working for minimum wage and trying to get by on it.

I thought that the premise of this book was right on, but since it's how we live, I didn't find any of it surprising. Maybe rich snobs need to read it to see how the other half live, but I already know all about living paycheck to paycheck.

Really enjoyed reading this book. Very eye opening.

"Nickel and Dimed:..." is an excellent book describing how difficult it is to survive on minimum wage in this country. Not only does this author describe how difficult this was to do physically, the readers also get a sense of the emotional toll this experiment took on her. In a nutshell, the author got an assignment to go undercover as a minimum wage worker so she could truly get an idea of this lifestyle. She took jobs such as: maid, waitress and sales clerk. What ensues are descriptions of heartbreaking stories of her co-workers who either had to live with many roommates or even live in their vehicles. And these are people with jobs! Can you imagine how impossible it is to survive without a job. The author describes the desperation her co-workers felt and even her own sense of defeat and desperation even knowing that this was only temporary (the experiment lasted 3 months with one month spent in 3 cities each).

I always knew it sucked to try and live on minimum wage. But I never realized just how much of the world is actively set against you when you're at the way-low end of the pay scale. Even if you're a committed lefty, this thing is an eye-opener.

Nice story, reads well, good for a quick cute story. Not that inspirational.

This is a book that should be read by every high school person in America, especially those students who are underachieving -- a foretelling of their future if they do not work hard in school. Then once they read it someone needs to let them know that, yes, these are VERY REAL experiences for the downtrodden. I think the book should not be criticized because B.E. was not really economically challenged and could get away from the situation after she decided the experiment was over, because no one who is that poor has written any books like that to tell us about that eperience. I feel like I have lived a very little of that and I always take on 2nd and 3rd and 4th jobs to earn etra money and there is a lot of degradation in working in people's homes, cleaning their toilets and doing the work for them that they don't want to do for themselves. Also, just last night I started the book that 1700 people on this website have on their wish list -- The Help -- and these two books have lots of similiarity so far.

This is a great first-hand study of what it's like to try to live on minimum wage or less in our affluent country. It's actually pretty depressing, but eye-opening. None of the people the author encountered in the first chapter (as far as I've read so far) have been people of faith or connected with a church. I would be interested to know how that added dimension in a person's life helps them deal with their low-income situation.

A few years ago, I was stuck in a dead-end big -box store job and working a second shift at a convenience store. I WAS one of those "nickeled and dimed" so I was able to see what she experienced.

There were aspects about this experiment that I liked. She was able to see her co-workers as human beings and understand their plight. She befriended co-workers and got to know them on a personal level. She changed jobs often, looking for ways to make her survival easier. She showed the poor diet you are relegated to because of your slim options.

The primary aspect I did NOT like was that, at any time, she could quit her experiment and go back to her reality. My problem is that this IS the reality for so many people. They don't have the option of quitting or digging into an untouched bank account. They might have kids or other responsibilities to deal with. She had options at her disposal where these people don't. It's easier to be happy knowing that you can quit at any time when these people can't. For her is was an experiment. For us, it was survival. There is little hope like that for people stuck in these situations.

Her experience is like going to the zoo and stepping into a cage to see wild animals knowing she could leave at any time. Being stranded in the Serengeti struggling for survival is a very different experience. Her experience is helpful but not real.

Unfortunately those that can make a difference by bringing manufacturing back to the US and with it, decent paying jobs back for workers are the ones that need to read this book. And they won't.

I thought this book was quite enlightning!!! I will never look at these types of workers the same way again!!!! Everyone should read this book!!!

sad - but fascinating.

I really loved this book. (I'm from maine) So I new all the places she went to work at. As a women who Would never have to walk a day in the shoes of a lower paid women.Chooses to so she can see what life is like for a women Nickel and Dimed.

A wide-eye experience at trying to make it on entry-level wages. Amazing.

What a great idea to try and live on the minimum wage, and she had a head start. Insightful and revealing about our culture/system.

Excellent social commentary on how hard life is for those who are in poverty. Highly enlightening read.

Very Informative. I had my teenage son read it so that he knows what type of work people really do to survive. This book makes you grateful

Raises social awareness of the plight of the working poor.

**** In the afluent America we live in, this is an interesting insight to the thousands of hard working Americans who are doing there best to just SURVIVE. Interesting and enjoyable

Eye-opening. I think everyone should read this book to get a better understanding of poverty and the problems faced by the working poor...and the reality that the American Dream is becoming harder to achieve as time goes by. An easy read, but thought-provoking.

I loved this book because it really opened my eyes to the struggle taking place in America. I highly recommend this book.

The best book I have read all year.
Very moving.

An interesting insight into the economics of the working poor - if a little contrived re: the setup

very interesting

Learn what it is like to try and get by on minimum wage today in the USA. Hint: It isn't possible. There but for the grace of God, go I.

Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them, inspired in part by the rhetoric surroundling welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on six to seven dollars an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnestoa, 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.

Very interesting book even if the experiment is a bit flawed.

I thought this was a real eye opening book. Really makes you think about the daily struggles of some people.

A great idea for a book. I though the author did not go about the "experiment" as well as she could have. I took offense to several of her opinions. All and all it was worth the read.

I enjoyed this book but wish it would have delved deeper. It seemed to just brush the surface.

Read this book in college for a class. One of the most interesting books I have ever read. You really get to see what its like to live on minimum wage or less in the US.

Interesting and informative book, though not completely sound in the experimentation methods.

This is real eye opener. It makes you stop and think how some people get by on very little.

Interesting read - eye-opening experience about getting by on a minimum wage job.

I really enjoyed this book...it makes you think; quoting a review in the front of the book, "No one who reads this book will be able to resist its power to make them see the world in a new way."

This book is quite the eye-opener. It is a quick read and very interesting... Also kind of frightening. It reveals a lot of truths about the things that poor people have to go through just to survive.

I loved this book!

Great book!

Excellent non-fiction account of the life of the poor, overworked and underpaid workers of the United States.

I read this book twice, once for myself, and a year or so later, when it was chosen by my book club. An eye opener - or maybe not if you are one of those trying to make a living and supporting a family on minimum wage. Walmart, waitressing, working in a nursing home, working for a house cleaning service - were all explored by Barbara Ehrenreich. A realistic view of living from paycheck to paycheck.

In contrast to recent books by Michael Lewis and Dinesh D'Souza that explore the lives and psyches of the New Economy's millionares, Ehrenreich (Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class, etc.) turns her gimlet eye on the view from the workforce's bottom rung. Determined to find out how anyone could make ends meet on $7 an hour, she left behind her middle class life as a journalist except for $1000 in start-up funds, a car and her laptop computer to try to sustain herself as a low-skilled worker for a month at a time. In 1999 and 2000, Ehrenreich worked as a waitress in Key West, Fla., as a cleaning woman and a nursing home aide in Portland, Maine, and in a Wal-Mart in Minneapolis, Minn. During the application process, she faced routine drug tests and spurious "personality tests"; once on the job, she endured constant surveillance and numbing harangues over infractions like serving a second roll and butter. Beset by transportation costs and high rents, she learned the tricks of the trade from her co-workers, some of whom sleep in their cars, and many of whom work when they're vexed by arthritis, back pain or worse, yet still manage small gestures of kindness. Despite the advantages of her race, education, good health and lack of children, Ehrenreich's income barely covered her month's expenses in only one instance, when she worked seven days a week at two jobs (one of which provided free meals) during the off-season in a vacation town. Delivering a fast read that's both sobering and sassy, she gives readers pause about those caught in the economy's undertow, even in good times.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW

Quite though provoking. It really puts America's working poor in a new light.

Good article on topic here:

http://www.alternet.org/story/39273/

Every American should read this book. The next time a "living wage" bill is put forward to vote on.....be sure to say YES!!

Fantastic story of author who took low-wage jobs across America and her trials to "get by" with healthcare, and the necessities of life.

VERY GOOD! The author goes undercover and works in a few different states for minimum wage to prove people cannot survive.

Bought it to read on a trip, but never got around to finishing it. It was an over-all good book.

I thought this book was excellent and sends a great message to Americans-especially those who have never had similar jobs or who have had to really save money and know what its like to live in near-poverty. The economy really makes me sick to begin with, and this book just continued to fuel the fire for me.

I think Barbara Ehrenreich writes a great narrative, and for a current events book it flowed rather easily and nicely. I really enjoyed her humorous anecdotes throughout the book, and more specifically her segments on the Accutest (which I failed as a teenager when applying to K&B Toys), drug-testing, and of course her retail experience in Wal-Mart.

I no longer work retail but being recently layed off from a major telemarketing corporation, this book was a great refresher and motivater for what I need to mentally prepare for. Because retail plays a major role in my background experience, I've always held great respect for the sweating, hard-workers out there who are earning a pathetic hourly wage doing laborious jobs on their feet or scrubbing toilets while I sit on my behind in an office cubicle doing close to nothing. What I really want is for everyone else to read this book to get a true glimpse of what a large portion of Americans are really doing to stay afloat.

I get sick and tired of all the rude, impatient and uppity people who act condescendingly toward retail, housekeeping, and restaurant servers. When I go shopping I always make it a point to tell people in the service industry that I'm never in a hurry to get anywhere, and I'm quick to jump to their defense when snotty people get snippy with these service workers.

I really could go on and on about all the emotions I experienced when reading this book. I thought it was great!

I know this book is supposed to outrage us. I found the author annoying and whiny. Okay so she finally had to do a hard days work and didn't get paid much. Welcome to the real world.

I really enjoyed this book. Being a former Wally World employee, it did hit home.

This is very interesting look at the working class in the US. I enjoyed this easy read.

Good book....a true eye opener in the world of minimum wage work and trying to survive on it

Very interesting, but I disagree with her overall philosophy.

Really interesting. I would recommend this to everyone.

This book depressed me, it's just way to close to home for me! It makes me realize that I'm not alone in my work, financial struggles and that it could be a lot worse!!!! I still recommend it though, because it's important material -- very eye opening even though I'm down there in the lowest paid category it made an impact on me.

I wasn't really enlightened by this book, simply because I come from a family who's been in the situation where we struggled to get by before so I know what it's like (although not as extreme as the people Ehrenreich met in the book.. I've never lived in a hotel or truck). But Ehrenreich does have a fun, humor-filled style of writing which made this an enjoyable and interesting book.

This was a pretty easy read, however I have worked as a sales associate and a waitress so there is nothing too shocking in this book. I was never a maid and that chapter provided some interesting stories. Still a tragic overview the American workforce and economy.

Barbara Ehrenreich embarks on a journey to understand the day-to-day that the working poor endure. She moves from Florida to Maine to Minnesota and works in low wage jobs such as waitress and house cleaner. I found it a facinating read - you gain a greater understanding of the challenges the working poor endure.

If you live paycheck to paycheck then you can relate to her "experiment", if you don't then maybe this book will make you a little more aware of how most people live.

This is a modern day classic, easily. Ehrenreich writes a masterpiece.

Having lived this kind of life I didn't find this book all that enlightening.

excellent non fiction, very engrossing and enjoyable to read

Thought provoking

Not a big fan of this book. While it was a critically acclaimed book about the struggles of minimum wage workers with some eye-opening points, the author seemed to be pushing her own social agenda. One example: she balks at taking a drug test for her employer. "Why do employers persist in the practice? Probably in part because of advertising by the roughly $2billion drug-testing industry, but I suspect that the demeaning effect of testing may also hold some attraction for employers" (pg 128)

Working undercover, the author travels from Florida to Maine and Minnesota. She got work as a waitress,, hotel maid, housecleaner, nursing home aide and Walmart salesperson. She discovers the "lowliest" occupation requires exhusting mental and physicxal efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.

Everyone should read this book. It is eye opening. This author (who is a reporter)goes undercover to bring us news of America's working poor-what they go through to get the low wages they earn. She tells this story with deep moral outrage. She works beside these hard working Americans and tells the story of the invisible workforce that fuels the service economy, and endows the men and women who populate it with the honor that is often lacking on the job.This book tells the story -true stories of men and women who wait tables, scrub floors, and straighten the racks at discount stores. Very enlightening.

The book is great. Unfortunately the people who most need to read it - people who think that poor people deserve their plight - will be the last to read it.

Fascinating

While Barabar E was never REALLY in danger of becoming homeless (she could always go back to her "real" life), this book can open ones eyes to how hard it can be to survive if you are not born into money or have a way to "pull yourself up by the bootstraps". NOT everyone can do this-no matter how many times you hear that with hard work and perseverance you'll get ahead. NOT always true, and is becoming less and less true all the time. In a country where housing is not guarenteed you (unlike other countries) and one must pay for your health care, sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars (certainly thousands)it is important that more of us understand that the playing feild is not level here, no matter what we want to believe.

This is an excellent book about how hard it is to make a living on low paying jobs. I don't understand how people who pay these miserable wages can sleep at night.

Amazing, revealing book. The author goes undercover to work minimum wage, "unskilled" labor jobs.

I read this quickly and it made a HUGE impression on me. It's pretty depressing, to be quite honest. But everyone should read this!

Eye-opening.

What an awakening. We need more union jobs.

Everybody should read this book. A real eye-opening piece of nonfiction. The author worked minimum wage jobs in 3 different locations across the US, and tells about her experience and observations.

Interesting premise, but falls short in implementation. I think the author proves the point that she can't live on a minimum job wage, but I never get the feeling she was integrated into the process, she seemed like a casual observer, at times mocking the system. It didn't appear she had any idea how much trouble she could cause talking about a union for her coworkers at Walmart; they depend on the job and income, she doesn't. Overall an interesting read.

An interesting study of being poor in America. But my only complaint is that I feel Ehrenreich was not fully submersed in this world of the low wage worker. She had a few way outs in the form of previous friends to help her, an ever-present bank account if the going got too tough, and, of course, the option to quit whenever she felt like it, which she did.

However, don't let this distract you from her stories. It is head-shaking to read how even a fairly healthy, childless, white, intelligent woman with a car can struggle making ends meet. What does that say for the immigrant, minority, and sick people with children and no car? I am sure the low wage worker is comprised of mostly people in the latter category.

This is a quick book to read. Very thought-provoking.

A powerful snippet into the inescapable cycle of poverty. Enlightening, and certainly aimed at a white, upper-middle class, educated audience. The author makes profound discoveries while maintaining some distant ties to her privileged safety net.

The author decides to join the working poor. She ventures on a journey to to experience low wage jobs and travels from place to place and trying to survive. Her narrative put her on the New York Times bestseller list. A must read.

Very interesting read about the lives of so called normal people that work on 6-7 dollars an our and try to get by.

"Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them...But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on six to sever dollars an hour?...[Her book] reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity...Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor."
It moves fast, once you get past the introduction, and is a real eye-opener. I'll never look at a waitress or hotel maid the same way again.

The author decided to live on minimum wage and found out how difficult it is. Every one, especially those who have good jobs, should read this book to learn about people who work hard every day and still don't have the means to feed, clothe and house their families.

Gives the reader a first-hand view of what it's like to be a member of working-class America. Ehrenreich works blue collar jobs in an experiment to gage whether or not workers can make a living wage in low level jobs.

Had to read this book for school. I really didn't like it but it would be interesting to someone who is interested in sociological topics. Not reccomended if you have a conservative bone in your body.

The book is great. Many people live this way and are viewed as lower than snakes bellies because of their circumstances. The only fault with the book is that the author wasn't able to spend some real time trying to live this way. Her time was up when it was just in the nick of time to bail her out. Someone should try living this way in a hell on earth job for more than a month and know what it is like to live on one meal a day and that being Top Ramain noodles.

This is a very enlightening book. Ms. Ehrenreich didn't just write about poverty at minimum wage in America, she lived it and then wrote about it.

An easy read and a glimpse of how "the other half" lives, when that really means the other 2/3. It is less anthropology than writer dabbling in poverty but it does raise awareness, doesn't pretend to be actually experiencing the pains a person who has no choice experiences, and is interesting.

Slow at times, but a great story worth telling

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