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| Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America | 
| Author: Barbara Ehrenreich
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (23 reviews)
Sales Rank: 347
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0805088385
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.569092
EAN: 9780805088380
ASIN: 0805088385
Publication Date: June 24, 2008
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The bestselling, landmark work of undercover reportage, now updated Acclaimed as an instant classic upon publication, Nickel and Dimed has sold more than 1.5 million copies and become a staple of classroom reading. Chosen for ?one book? initiatives across the country, it has fueled nationwide campaigns for a living wage. Funny, poignant, and passionate, this revelatory firsthand account of life in low-wage America?the story of Barbara Ehrenreich?s attempts to eke out a living while working as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart associate?has become an essential part of the nation?s political discourse. Now, in a new afterword, Ehrenreich shows that the plight of the underpaid has in no way eased: with fewer jobs available, deteriorating work conditions, and no pay increase in sight, Nickel and Dimed is more relevant than ever.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Truly...interesting... December 13, 2008
"On (Not) Getting By in America"; this sentence itself, incorporates the whole sense of the author's precious experience, and prospects to the potential reader a prompt sense of discomfort. Or at least, cues the awareness that somebody in this country is not indeed "living large".
Coincidentally, I think about it everyday, especially when I notice curious people driving in the next lane of the highway, during my tedious attempts to respect the 55-miles speed limit. "Curious" in this case is definitely a euphemism; I see individuals with obvious dental problems. Some have scarce or rotten teeth, and in some rare cases don't have teeth at all. I often catch myself in the rear view mirror shaking my head and naively wonder, how in the world can one neglect one of the main priorities, like personal hygiene or health care? In actuality, I always believed that you can have a fairly good idea of the social status of anyone anywhere in the world when they open their mouth, or by looking at them straight in the eyes. There you find clear indications of how they lived their childhood and youth, and which were the main concerns of the family in which they were reared. Consequently, as they approach adulthood, they keep carrying this scarlet letter as an undesired mark of infamous heritage. Moreover, a common denominator among the people I encounter is that they look precociously aged, probably by a distressed and sullen existence. At times they drive vehicles totally corroded and possessed by rust, and yet, I wonder if they will be able to get home safe to their families. Most of them are poorly dressed, and the expression they bear in their face is of utter alienation, desperation, misery, and hopelessness.
What are the possible causes of all that? Why do some people neglect their health, appearance, and basic safety? Ehrenreich provides us with one strong and simple answer: indigence, a disease common to millions of low-waged American workers. In her book, she lists personal experiences, statistical data, and specific information to explain and support some of the truly plausible reasons. She talks about real people, and reveals their personal dramas.
However, I am sure that some of these real people would not feel honored to be involuntary protagonists of Ehrenreich's book; or, ironically, maybe they would (!), for the reassuring feeling that "finally somebody knows", acknowledges and sympathizes with their daily wearing fight for survival. Perhaps they would be even able to feel the warmth of its solidarity, if the uncompassionate world in which they strive everyday would not have caused them to be outraged, and by contrast, numbed by the plethora of opulence that surrounds them. An opulence that appears to be at everybody's reach- the true American dream- but sooner or later unfolds to many with its true identity: a plain and simple chimera.
The Author sapiently describes her experiences with great pragmatism and dances on semantics seemingly without any perceptible effort, demonstrating a superb ownership of her native language. She does not spare harsh criticism to her temporary employers when portraying the world of the mistreated, the humbles, the humiliated, those that do not have an alternative, those whose dignity has departed its main headquarters like a soldier who ventures off to a war in another continent, and does not seem to be ever coming back.
I admire her ability to fully immerse herself in this "underworld", and deliver a sagacious observation on the dynamics that govern the lives of low-waged American workers. Yet, I particularly agree with some of her statements: as an example, when working as a maid and analyzing the possibility of hiring help for her house, she rebukes the idea of "having this kind of relationship with another human being" (Ehrenreich;91). I utterly adore this sentence; it "wraps it all up", in my opinion. After all, what is a relationship with another human being supposed to be based on? Shouldn't respect for every individual be the paramount of our daily social interactions? Or should an obese, ignorant, and crass lady-wearing a cheap and acidulous cologne-order a maid to kneel, and scrub her repulsive bathroom floor with her bare hands, and in her presence? Well, this hypothesis does not seem acceptable to me.
Nonetheless, we assist episodes of public humiliation in the workplaces every sacred day, and in all forms and variations, whether we eat at a restaurant, or we step into a public facility. Sometimes, I happen to see a janitor in the restrooms of my own workplace, and I cannot avoid feeling a sense of embarrassment, to notice how "different" our lives are. He/she works in the so-called "restrooms", but this embellishing noun does not make them dissimilar from latrines, because that's what they really are: a place where people dump their organic fluids and stenchy excrements. A fancy name does not masquerade their true designed purpose, especially when the outcome of some citizen's expedition is evidently visible on the toilet seat, or worse, on the floor. The idea that somebody, another human being, will have to bear with that sight and smell on a daily basis, only because he/she has no better choice, triggers in me a deep sense of depression; being born in the wrong family, in a bad time of history, or in a poor country, makes all the differences in the universe. Here I am, and I cross paths with a janitor-mostly an hard-working immigrant- that does not feel comfortable looking you straight in the eyes, almost as he/she would not be feeling dignified enough, just like the vassals would do in medieval feudalism, in presence of their lord. Yes, of course, "somebody ought to do that job", hence it is a task that has to be accomplished; that's the only reason why I put up with the idea of its existence, but I try to be as respectful as I can, to show my sincere and deepest sympathy or at least to establish a "bridge of communication". Ehrenreich provides us with and excellent, extensive and hilarious comment on her experience with the restrooms in the paragraph "Scrubbing in Maine", at page 92 of the aforementioned book; her choice of words is striking, and although disgusting, her description of "how to clean a toilet seat" is an exhilarating thriller.
Nonetheless, albeit being exhilarating, its depressing content keeps reminding us how miserable the lives of many workers -such as those employed in the janitorial services- can be; at least as miserable as that of anyone working for less that $10 an hour. In fact, despite the vivid and yet-still-bright survival of the "American Dream", the author brilliantly points out on page 186 that there is a great truth that she had been discovering during the course of her expedition: for those working with low-wage salaries, life goes on in the very same way, day after day, minute after minute, and nothing happens, let alone the possibility to improve either the quality of their job or that of their lifestyle. One can work for decades breaking his/her own back and putting up with chronic muscular pains, to find out that the light at the end of the tunnel has still the diameter of a micron.
It's also remarkable in my opinion, her consideration on the relationship between the strength of the economy and the cost of the rent, when she cannot afford housing in Minneapolis: upon quoting the statement of a public official with the phrase "the stronger the economy, the stronger the upward pressure on rents" (Ehrenreich;172), she sarcastically notices to be "victim of prosperity, not of poverty". In other words, the worse your financial situation, the deeper your precipice will be. Paradoxically, richness (and the pursuit of it) can be a blessing and a damnation, at the same time.
In essence, I evidently showed my appreciation for the book, mostly for its openly declared social commitment, and honest sober critique to the challenges of the capitalistic economic model; the lives and the hurdles of millions of Americans who work for less than $10 an hour are truly invisible to the affluent, but through her book, there is a slight chance that many will become aware of this unfair, inhumane polarization.
However, I cannot neglect to observe that her publication is often adorned with an endless surplus of negative stories tied to each individual with whom she works in each of the settings; those negative stories seem to be abounding at times, causing the profiles of those low-waged involuntary protagonists twisted into victims and/or scapegoats of this unjust society. I stand absolutely far from denying that people can have several problems at once, such as bad health, a violent spouse, or a drug addiction, but some of the characters of the book appear to have them all at once, like they were living a jinxed and catastrophic existence. Hence-and alas-in my opinion, some paragraphs appear on occasion to assume a grotesque connotation, such to deteriorate the primary social purpose of the author's initiative and favor a more extreme but entertaining content, almost a fairy tale: the cause of this, I believe, is a clear abuse of poetic license, or maybe, the victory of marketing over social obligation. Ironically, and to the same extent, the original purpose is eventually defeated by the same enemies it was once committed to obliterate.
Ehrenreich writes very well, knows what she writes and which keys to play, but is also visibly pleased to read her own writing, and genuinely admits it by stating that writing is a great tool to feed our own ego.
In conclusion, although I slightly disagree on the Author's approach towards her writing style, I absolutely adore her book, and passionately hope that it will be read by everyone, especially our state representatives and all the American people; I wish that they might eventually gain awareness of the gruesome reality that millions of low-waged fellow workers face everyday, when they are forced to "check their civil liberties at the door of their workplace and leave America and all it supposedly stands for behind, and learn to zip their lips for the duration of the shift", as Ehrenreich puts it on page 210. I look forward to the day our governors will find the inspiration to start facilitating a set of interventions aimed at reestablishing a decent and humanely life for all of the citizens, and most importantly, fostering the true and ultimate essence of every human being: their dignity.
 A different slice of life November 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Many of us have worked at jobs that barely paid the bills, and paid us much less than we considered we were worth. An increasing number of people live lives dependent on such jobs. How does one make it in a country where the rents, food costs, transportation costs and health care costs routinely outpace the rise of minimum wages? Barbara Ehrenreich tried an experiment - she took on the task of finding such jobs, one in cleaning, one in restaurant serving, and one in retail, to see if she could make it even for a month on such wages.
Ehrenreich confesses to cheating - her transportation was always assured, she started with a comfortable sum, and really didn't have to worry about the longer-term issues of health care or saving for the unexpected. Still, the experiment was eye-opening. Despite the fact that the population served by places that cater to low-wage earners such as weekly residential hotels and food kitchens, it often costs more in time and money for people to take advantage of such things. The amount of time Ehrenreich spent trying to get free food amounted to a considerable sum, even if calculated at the minimum wage. Of course, this was also time that could not be spent in terms of education or job searching - how can one improve one's lot in life if basic survival needs take up so much time and energy?
I work with people and teach in schools where people, even if they aren't living on absolute minimum wages, still exist in a state where an auto breakdown can make the difference between finishing the semester or not, or where a computer breakdown or inability to get to a free library computer can make the difference of getting through a degree program. Most low-wage earners are among the hardest working people in the country, as Ehrenreich discovers in her experiment, and many have family obligations on top of the job-and-a-half or two-job life (and, of course, many of those are single mothers). From big box stores to small businesses, the routine infringement of privacy and personal rights was intense, but something that apparently is treated as routine, both by those who invade and those invaded.
Ehrenreich's book has been used as community reads and common reading projects at various schools and colleges. There are some critiques worth mentioning - Ehrenreich's politics are on the liberal side, and that turns off some readers (including, as it happens, many who fall in the low-wage category). Her message can be distorted to fit different political agendas, not always of her intention. The experiment also presents a few slices of life that are far from a statistical or scientific study; as an anecdotal piece, this is very fascinating, but one needs to look elsewhere for facts and figures. As Ehrenreich states, however, it is hard to calculate in this bracket - the official poverty levels bear little relationship to who really is or is not poor, and that can vary from one part of the country to another. Ehrenreich's experiment also doesn't fully capture the experience of much of the poor, who also tend to be minorities; a bit of this poked through as Ehrenreich found she was sometimes considered for certain roles and not others just because she was not a minority.
On the whole, this is a fascinating book, well worth reading by those of us in the more comfortable classes to see just what many have to go through to survive in our generally affluent society.
 On (Not) Being a Good Book November 3, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
There are no words that I could use to describe this woman's attitude that haven't already been sprinkled throughout Amazon reviews; whiny, preachy, arrogant, self-righteous, annoying...you get the point. She seems to be the worst kind of person: the kind that pretends to care about the plight of others in order to further her own career. I'd put her up there with Jesse and Reverend Al. Allow me to quote her actual words:
"I originally sought what I assumed would be a relatively easy job in hotel housekeeping and found myself steered into waitressing, no doubt because of my ethnicity and English skills."
"Unlike many low-wage workers, I have the further advantage of being white and a native English speaker."
"I ruled out places like New York and L.A., for example, where the working class consists mainly of people of color and a white woman with unaccented English seeking entry-level jobs might only look desperate or weird."
I'm sorry, is she white and privileged? I didn't happen to catch that part. Also, yeah, it would look desperate. That's what you get when you're actually poor. You know, desperate.
She laces the book with many footnotes and statistics, which are actually interesting, but she clearly has no idea what to do when she becomes the statistic. This is the prime example of what happens when you study all the charts, and you see them all laid on in black and white, then try to actually claim them as your own life and look foolish. You know how many homeless people lived on the streets from `90-'95? Okay, good. They're going to shut your power off because you're late on the payments. What are you going to do with that statistic?
"Ideally, at least if I were seeking to replicate the experience of a woman entering the workforce from welfare, I would have had a couple children in tow...In addition to being mobile and unencumbered, I am probably in a lot better health than most members of the long-term low-wage workforce. I had everything going for me."
Wow. All that and a killer personality. You really do have everything. Way to go. You've successfully exploited and no doubt offended the people whose lives your book claims to showcase.
In fairness, she is able to step outside of herself and note that "almost anyone could do what I did...In fact, millions of Americans do it everyday, with a lot less fanfare and dithering." Although, I can't help but feel like she decided to write a book about what it was like for her to be poor for a few months, instead of what it's like to actually be poor.
All of the above quotes come from the first 10 pompous pages. I decided then that I did not care for this book, but made myself read until I couldn't take it anymore, which occurred on page 32. One of my favorite examples of her detachment is when she turns down a job that pays $7 an hour (in the mid-90s, mind you) because it "involves standing in one spot for eight hours a day."
Here's another funny one: "About a third of a server's job is "side work" invisible to customers." I just think it's hilarious that she put the term "side work" in quotes like that, as if nobody had ever heard the term before.
I am honestly offended by her ignorance of a subject she claims to have not only researched, but "lived". I know people who live this book. I live this book. I've never known anyone to turn down any job because they asked for a urine screen, unless they were going to undoubtedly fail. Actually, they'd take the test anyway, and cross their fingers. Not Barbara, though. It's beneath her. "If you want to stack Cheerios boxes or vacuum hotel rooms" she writes, "you have to be willing to squat down and pee in front of a health worker." This doesn't make any sense to her, stating that "$6 and a couple of dimes to start with are not enough, I decide, to compensate for this indignity."
You know what's indignity? When they take your kids away because you can't feed them. That's indignity.
I never made it to the second chapter, but the first few sentences of the opening paragraph are intriguing at the least:
"I chose Maine for its whiteness." Very first words of the chapter. Believe me, it gets better: "This might not make Maine an ideal setting in which to hunker down for the long haul, but it made it the perfect place for a blue-eyed, English-speaking Caucasian to infiltrate the low-wage workforce, no questions asked."
Caucasian? Who says that? This woman is very misguided. She did this "experiment" about ten years ago, but I think white people worked minimum wage jobs then, as they do now. Except in Maine, apparently.
This is not a book about being poor. It is a book about a bored, middle-class woman who decides to go slumming, and she doesn't even follow her own rules that closely. She busts out her debit card when needed, she turns down jobs actual poor people would kill to have, and she does it all with the empathy and compassion of Adolf Hitler. There are people who think this book deserved its bestseller status. I'm not one of them. There are people who hail it as a classic, those who think that this woman has done the working-class a favor by writing this garbage. Those people are not working-class people. Those people are not my people.
2 stars, simply because I had to keep reading in order to find out how she would insult me next.
Telling the truth October 9, 2008
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book tells the reality for too many Americans, who don't qualify for the Bush/McCain tax cuts. Sad, and scary, reading.
Excellent, Unbiased, well written and documented September 30, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I originally read this book when it was first published! I found it hard hitting, have quoted from it frequently and have recommended it to numerous indivduals.
I feel her book does not go far enough, because; let us be honest, she knew she would "get out" of the circumstances. It was an experiment for her; and that kept her from sinking into despair. Total desperation, and fear that her children would never have full tummies. This is the plight of the working poor everywhere in America. To say it is not is to close ones eyes and live in ignorance.
This book is best read without the snacks, without the liquid refreshment within arms reach. Let your stomach be a little empty, so you can permit your body to feel the book as well.
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