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Nickel and Dimed
- On (Not) Getting By in America
- Narrated by: Cristine McMurdo-Wallis
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
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Publisher's summary
A successful author, Barbara Ehrenreich decides to see if she can scratch out a comfortable living in a blue-collar America obsessed with welfare "reform". Her first job is waitressing, which pulls in a measly $2.43 an hour plus tips. She moves around the country, trying her hand as a maid, a nursing home assistant, and a Wal-Mart salesperson. What she discovers is a culture of desperation, where workers take multiple thankless jobs just to keep a roof overhead.
Often humorous and always illuminating, Nickel and Dimed is a remarkable expose of the ugly flip side of the American dream.
Critic reviews
- Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Non-Fiction, 2002
- Alex Award Winner, 2002
"One of today's most original writers." (The New York Times)
"A close observer and astute analyzer of American life, Ehrenreich turns her attention to what it is like trying to subsist while working in low-paying jobs....Her narrative is candid, often moving, and very revealing." (Library Journal)
"Delivering a fast read that's both sobering and sassy, she [Ehrenreich] gives readers pause about those caught in the economy's undertow, even in good times." (Publishers Weekly)
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Chairs. Neat people. Ugliness. War. Over six decades of intrepid reporting and elegant essays, Andy Rooney has proven a shrewd cultural analyst. Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit brings together the best of more than a half-century of work (including long-out-of-print pieces from his early years) in an unforgettable celebration of one of America’s funniest men. Like Mark Twain, Finley Peter Dunne (Mister Dooley) and Will Rogers, Andy Rooney is a classic chronicler of America, a writer for the ages.
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A good style
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The Working Poor
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- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
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Nobody who works hard should be poor in America, writes Pulitzer Prize-winner David Shipler. Clear-headed, rigorous, and compassionate, he journeys deeply into the lives of individual store clerks and factory workers, farm laborers and sweat-shop seamstresses, illegal immigrants in menial jobs and Americans saddled with immense student loans and paltry wages. They are known as the working poor.
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Textbook Perfect Discussion of the Problem
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By: David K. Shipler
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The Broken Road
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- Narrated by: Richard Paul Evans
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
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Celebrity Charles James can't shake the nightmare that wakes him each night. He sees himself walking down a long, broken highway, the sides of which are lit in flames. Where is he going? Why is he walking? What is the wailing he hears around him? By day he wonders why he's so haunted and unhappy when he has all he ever wanted - fame, fans, and fortune and the lavish lifestyle it affords him. Coming from a childhood of poverty and pain, this is what he's dreamed of. But now, at the pinnacle of his career, he's started to wonder if he's wanted the wrong things.
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Unresolved.
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Hardly Knew Her
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Linda Emond, Francois Battiste
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
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Each of these ingenious tales is a gem, sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to listen to Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of "one of today's most pleasing storytellers" ( San Diego Union-Tribune). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you'll discover that you hardly know her.
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I Love Laura Lippman
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By: Laura Lippman
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The Fran Lebowitz Reader
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In "elegant, finely honed prose" (The Washington Post Book World), Lebowitz limns the vicissitudes of contemporary urban life—its fads, trends, crazes, morals, and fashions. By turns ironic, facetious, deadpan, sarcastic, wry, wisecracking, and waggish, Fran Lebowitz is always wickedly entertaining.
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Wonderful in her own voice.
- By Sue C on 11-07-12
By: Fran Lebowitz
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The Boys in the Bunkhouse
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In the tiny Iowa farm town of Atalissa, dozens of men, all with intellectual disabilities and all from Texas, lived in an old schoolhouse. Before dawn each morning, they were bussed to a nearby processing plant, where they eviscerated turkeys in return for food, lodging, and $65 a month. They lived in near servitude for more than 30 years, enduring increasing neglect, exploitation, and physical and emotional abuse.
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Our Brothers' Keepers?
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By: Dan Barry
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Cooking as Fast as I Can
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In Cooking as Fast as I Can, Cat Cora reveals, for the first time, coming-of-age experiences from early childhood sexual abuse to the realities of life as a lesbian in the Deep South. She shares how she found her passion in the kitchen and went on to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and apprentice under Michelin-star chefs in France. After her big break as a cohost on the Food Network's Melting Pot, Cat broke barriers by becoming the first-ever female Iron Chef.
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Always admired her; but now…
- By Amazon Customer on 08-02-22
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And When She Was Good
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Heloise considers it a blessing to be a person who seldom attracts attention. In her suburb, she's just a mom, the young widow with the forgettable job, who somehow never misses a soccer game. In the state capital, she's the redheaded lobbyist with a good cause and a mediocre track record. But in discreet hotel rooms throughout the area, she's the woman of your dreams - if you can afford the hourly fee. For more than a decade, Heloise believed she was safe, managing to keep up this rigidly compartmentalized life. But her secret life is under siege. One county over, another so-called suburban madam has been found dead in her car, an apparent suicide.
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And When She Was Bad...
- By Carole T. on 08-18-12
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Laughing Without an Accent
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- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
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In the best-selling memoir Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas recounted her adventures growing up Iranian American in Southern California. Now she again mines her rich Persian heritage in Laughing Without an Accent, sharing stories both tender and humorous on being a citizen of the world, on her well-meaning family, and on amusing cultural conundrums, all told with insights into the universality of the human condition. (Hint: It may have to do with brushing and flossing daily.)
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Sigh
- By Sara on 01-29-14
By: Firoozeh Dumas
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I Hate Everyone, Except You
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Clinton Kelly is probably best known for teaching women how to make their butts look smaller. But in I Hate Everyone, Except You, he reveals some heretofore unknown secrets about himself, like that he's a finicky connoisseur of 1980s pornography, a disillusioned critic of New Jersey's premier water parks, and perhaps the world's least enthused high school commencement speaker.
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Filthy language overshadowed stories
- By Doris on 04-29-17
By: Clinton Kelly
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The Duggars: 20 and Counting!
- Raising One of America's Largest Families - How They Do It
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- Narrated by: Michelle Duggar
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The Duggars: 20 and Counting! is a behind-the-scenes look at the supersize family that fascinates millions of television viewers around the world. From Idaho to Istanbul, people want to know how Arkansas parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar efficiently and lovingly manage 19 happy, home-schooled children without going into debt—or losing their minds!
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Interesting perspective
- By Story Reader on 06-05-23
By: Michelle Duggar, and others
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From the beet fields of North Dakota to the wilderness campgrounds of California to an Amazon warehouse in Texas, people who once might have kicked back to enjoy their sunset years are hard at work. Underwater on mortgages or finding that Social Security comes up short, they're hitting the road in astonishing numbers, forming a new community of nomads: RV and van-dwelling migrant laborers, or "workampers".
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Eccentric Hobby? No--Survival Skills!
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Capitalism as a system has spawned deepening economic crisis alongside its bought-and-paid-for political establishment. Neither serves the needs of our society. Whether it is secure, well-paid, and meaningful jobs or a sustainable relationship with the natural environment that we depend on, our society is not delivering the results people need and deserve.
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Fantastic
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What listeners say about Nickel and Dimed
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Marco Forcone
- 08-24-04
Good concept, but poor execution.
The concept of this book is very good. Is it possible to live on a minimum wage salary? This book raises some very interesting social and political issues.
The problem I have with the book is the editorializing, and even more so, the incessant whining of the author. Also, much of the writing has an "elitest" tone to it. If you are going to try your hand making a living as a maid, you should not be surprised about having to clean toilets or carrying a vaccuum. If you are going to work at WallMart, don't be shocked about having to return clothes to the a rack.
Sometimes it seems that the author never held a real job in her life. Employees complaining about managment, drug testing, ineffectual and demoralizing management is as much a "white collar" (and high pay) issue as it is a "blue collar" (minimum wage) issue. Of course, the white collar employees have a home to return to at the end of the day.
Hence, my main complaint about the book is that the author should have spent more time analyzing the housing issues, aide for the poor issues, job market issues, rather than whine about her minimum wage jobs.
In summary, I believe the book is raising some serious issues about "the working poor", it is unfortunate that it is too painful to listen to the authors complaints to get the the heart of the book.
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61 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Melissa
- 10-04-04
of COURSE she has an agenda...
The author clearly states in the introduction to the book that she has an agenda, is choosing the locations for that reason, is not actually going to find out what it is really like to be poor, and is privileged. At least she's honest.
That's why the book works. All of the negative reviews are pointing out exactly what the author is trying to get across. And, from what some reviewers wrote, the need for this book still exists.
I find this book to be an interesting look into cultural assumptions and understandings about poverty, privilege, and work that is definitely worth a listen or a read.
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35 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Tracy
- 08-27-04
Toiling!
This book did try to explore an interesting concept. But the end results was annoying and contrived. The author over-dramatizes the smallest issue, drawing it out into several minutes, making me think "lady, just get over yourself". She obviously had a point she wanted to prove, a cause she wanted to lead, but just tried to hard. In the end, the book had the opposite effect - complete lack of credibility.
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31 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Michael
- 09-08-04
A Candid and Thoughtful Experiment
Barbara Ehrenreich is a master of her surroundings. In this book, she offers candid and daunting insight into the world of low-wage laborers. Her reflections are not limited to the financial woes of the poor but expand into their social culture and daily realities.
The detail in this book is helpful at times while frivolous at others, which is why I think the other reviewers missed the point of Ehrenreich's message. Yes, she does reveal the working class conditions of certain professions in Portland, Key West and Minneapolis to demonstrate that they are consistent (and demeaning) in the many different regions of America. Yes, she does demonstrate that the negative side of capitalism is a reality for poor Americans. But that does not appear to be her underlying message. Instead, I think Ehrenreich's point is that people deserve to be treated with respect and decency regardless of their occupation.
A word about the narration: This is definitely a book in which the voice of the narrator must fit the tone and context of the author's message. Ehrenreich would have done this audio book justice had she served as the narrator. For the most part Christine McMurdo-Wallis was able to grasp the feeling and tone of each moment of Ehrenreich's experiment, but at times I found it distracting and difficult to listen to her because her voice is quite refined and sophisticated. (It is rather difficult to tap into an author's point of view as an impostor in tough working conditions when the narrator's voice resembles that of Lauren Bacall.) This may explain why other reviewers perceived the author as whiny, condescending and elitist.
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- Philip
- 10-03-06
Socialist author
This is a book by a whining socialist about inequality in the American economy. Instead of offering any viable solutions to poverty the author just suggests that we throw money at it. She was raised with a poor work ethic, but well off economically so she was able to get through college and a good job in journalism. For the purposes of writing this book, she goes into the low wage laborforce after making a self-fulfilling prophecy that says it is not possible to live on $7 per hour. It is no surprise that she would see no way out because she was raised well off and has never had to experience (or overcome) real hard work before. She sees herself as "just like them" meaning the poor and this proves to her that the poor are poor because of society's injustice and not because of personal faults in any way. She has obviously never seen the hard work it takes to overcome poverty. It is possible to work out of poverty with especially good work ethic which is something she does not have.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Laurie
- 04-28-05
Very limited point of view here
This book about America's working poor is interesting but is only a small window into the lives of these people. The author, naturally, has many advantages over her co-workers and this shows through loud and clear during her experiment. She also has a somewhat elitist attitude towards those she works with and constantly reminds us of her Phd and how "over-qualified" she is for many of these jobs.
No doubt, it will surely be an eye opening book for those who've never had the experience of growing up in this sort of situation (or never getting the opportunity to get out of it). For me it was an all too painful a reminder of my teen years and the horrible job at a fast food joint where I worked double shifts, was often called a peon by management and went home smelling and feeling like I'd been dipped in the fry-o-later all for a measly pittance. Finishing school and taking a few college courses changed the course of my life but many don't have this option (or realize it too late). It's difficult to advance past an entry level job when one needs such luxuries as food and shelter and then if you throw children into the mix things are pretty glum. This book mainly made me sad but there were a few moments of light and genuine human kindness.
However, in the end this book turns out to be just one woman's very limited experiences. I completely agree with her that it is very difficult (near impossible) to get out of the entry level job once you're knee deep in debt or have children and are no longer collecting (or never have) welfare. But I do have issues with her Welfare Reform rants and it is painfully obvious that she is looking at this from an outsiders point of view. She rants at length about the evils of Welfare Reform (and I agree with some points ~ some people just can't make it on their own) but she doesn't once state that some positives can and DO come out of it.
Overall, I didn't think this was a very balanced look at the "working poor".
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- Eric
- 09-02-04
Nickel and Dimed (Unabridged)
Don't even think about it! The author takes the extremely important issue of whether or not people can live on minimum wage and makes it into an 8 hour rant on how her back aches. She sets down the ground rules in the beginning of the book: She will NOT go homeless, she WILL use her ATM card incase of emergency, she WILL always have a car to drive around in, she WILL take the highest paying low income job available. There are more rules, but they are pretty weak considering that the working poor do not have these rules or options.
I would have preferred she took the opportunity to really understand what is going on inside the heads of people who have to scrape out a living on a minimum wage salary. She could find out what has enabled people to make it and what has condemed those who have continued to live in absolute poverty. Instead, she gives an upper middle class view point on how rough it is to be poor. No one wants to pay for an audio book that only goes on and on about how it sucks to be poor! I can't believe this book has sold so many copies. The author must really be well connected.
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17 people found this helpful
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- Jeffrey
- 10-31-04
Important to listen to the message
A very important book for those who have been very successful in life, and need to realize how fortunate they are. I found the book quite interesting, and despite editorializing that others heard as a negative, I sensed the natrual frustration that probably is right on the mark from someone in the world described. I recommend this book highly for someone open-minded, and humble.
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- David
- 09-25-05
Depressing Buyer beware!
It will confirm what you already know. The lower to middle class worker has it very difficult. No kidding? We couldn?t tell. Like ?Bait and Switch, this book will offer you nothing but depression. There is nothing in this book to suggest or offer some hope and comfort for the middle class worker. If you read this book or listen to the audioCD, know what you are getting into.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 12-20-04
Great Book! Very Insightful.
Don't believe the radical right negative reviews. Do your own thinking about this book.
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11 people found this helpful