The Good Enough Job

Reclaiming Life from Work

By: Simone Stolzoff

Narrated by: Simone Stolzoff

Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

"Superb."—Oliver Burkeman

A challenge to the tyranny of work and a call to reclaim our lives from its clutches.

From the moment we ask children what they want to “be” when they grow up, we exalt the dream job as if it were life’s ultimate objective. Many entangle their identities with their jobs, with predictable damage to happiness, wellbeing, and even professional success.

In The Good Enough Job, journalist Simone Stolzoff traces how work has come to dominate Americans’ lives—and why we find it so difficult to let go. Based on groundbreaking reporting and interviews with Michelin star chefs, Wall Street bankers, overwhelmed teachers and other workers across the American economy, Stolzoff exposes what we lose when we expect work to be more than a job. Rather than treat work as a calling or a dream, he asks what it would take to reframe work as a part of life rather than the entirety of our lives. What does it mean for a job to be good enough?

Through provocative critique and deep reporting, Stolzoff punctures the myths that keep us chained to our jobs. By exposing the lies we—and our employers—tell about the value of our labor, The Good Enough Job makes the urgent case for reclaiming our lives in a world centered around work.

©2023 Simone Stolzoff (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"His straight-shooting style makes for a blistering takedown of American corporate culture. Workaholics would do well to check this out."—Publishers Weekly

“Superb. A fascinating and deeply reported challenge to the idea that our work should—or ever could—be the only center of meaning, self-worth, or community in our lives. The real-life stories fill the reader with the liberating sense that we absolutely could put work back in its place—and that the result would be both richer lives and more effective work.”—Oliver Burkeman, New York Times bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks

“The Good Enough Job is an incredibly propulsive read, filled with characters whose stories will be at once familiar and astonishing—and it will absolutely challenge you to change the way you think about work.”—Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can’t Even and coauthor of Out of Office

Work is not your life

Thoughtful consideration of putting work in its proper place. Do not believe that work is your main source of meaning in life. Do not believe that finding the right job will guarantee happiness. The author has a liberal perspective that may annoy conservatives but his main points are valid.

Seeking work-life balance? Must read

This book opened up my eyes and put my relationship with work into perspective. Highly recommend.

loved this so much

This book articulated what my heart has been longing to express. I loved the bits of history intertwined within the stories to help illustrate how we got here.

I loved the author's honestly and observations of his own struggles to untangle himself from work and identity.

There is one thing I wish were in here though. I wish I could have heard the voices of people who's work will never reach the levels of the folks interviewed for these stories. I think all the stories featured college graduates and people wired for high ambition.

What stories would we hear from people whose work will never move beyond the realm of minimum wage? Who never had access to college or the high ambitions of the privileged? There is some reference to "these folks ", but I would have loved to hear how they feel about status or about their struggles with self worth and value when they cannot escape the shackles of low wage work and poverty.

I understand the stories in the book worked to illustrate his point, but....dang I'd love to hear from the folks who never even have a shot at Wallstreet or masters degrees,
Because personally, I struggle with so much SHAME.

thank you for this work ..... I really loved it

Captured This Concept So Well

An incredible book! For all of us who know you don’t want your job to be your identity, listen to this one. You won’t feel alone anymore.

Should be an essential read for all Americans

Before you even try the “no one wants to work these days” rhetoric, know that I am the exact demographic he is discussing. 100% full blown, high performing, burned out, tech workaholic. He is completely accurate that the obsessive “my economic productivity IS my worth epidemic” is definitely American and a narrative pushed by billionaires and politicians for their own gain at the detriment of the family unit. This should be a must read for all people, especially Americans. It doesn’t tell you to not work, it just reminds you that you are a human outside of your work title and the amount of money you make. If the idea of what I just said causes you to pull back, you need this book more than anyone else. Trust me, I was that person too and found my way out the hard way.

A must read!

If you work in the world, you need to read this. Story after story of reclaiming life from work. Thank you.

Good perspective

As someone going through a burnout as an overachiever, I enjoyed this book if only to hear similar stories and not feel so alone. It provided me the much needed perspective to be ok with rethinking my situation from a "what's best for ME" angle (which is difficult as a people pleaser). Easy listen.

Pass it along

I have forwarded this book to my sons with a feeling my husband and I may have steered them in the wrong direction, sadly. Caught up in my own journey to learn what not to do through examples growing up, we have chained ourselves to the golden handcuffs. Just satisfied enough to not quit. So much of what is called out in this book is the underlying political sale of making our country great through the work we do and our identity being intrinsically tied to “what do to do for a living”. I’m changing my intro question to what do you like to do? Still letting this one settle in. Thank you for a thought provoking read.

Great read

So many people I know live to work. It creates a chaos that is unnecessary and whether you work to live or not, makes it harder for you to ignore. This book should be mainlined into everyone’s brain and we should all be tested. Not sure why society operates this way but we should all want to live more balanced lives. I’ll be sharing this with everyone in my circle.

A great reminder to slow down

While it lacks some key recommendations of how to get to “good enough” it does a good job diving into why we fall into the trap, mostly that work consumes our identity and it’s hard to cope with the person we may be outside of work. It gave me a lot to think about as I am struggling with the same thing as someone who loves their job but is prone to workaholism.