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Summary: Studs Terkel Stands on Both Sides of the Counter
Review: All I can say is better Ben than me. He jumps into a bucket of ice water and stands there, again and again. There's a sort of reckless adventure in always being the new guy, trying to figure out how the workplace, well, works.
Working a short stint as a car salesman seems to be a great education for being a savvy car buyer in the future.
//Another thing that interested me was his relationship to his father's fame, how he had to deal with that over and over.(neat that the son of Saul Bellow helped get the book published)
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Summary: Would be mildly amusing if published as fiction
Review: Ben Cheever delights in toying around in the real world. I wish he would have had his little adventure then written a novel about it. It would make good light reading; a shallow tale of an immature spoiled rich kid in middle age that flirts with the dangerous real world and how he comes back none-the-wiser. By his admission it is an ersatz adventure. He feigns risk, hoping to enlighten us. Yet Cheever thinks he can ride the roller coaster and describe what its like to climb Mt. Everest. Why else would he publish it as non-fiction? If you have the desire to learn how difficult it is to live as a low-wage employee read Barbera Ehrenrich's "Nicked and Dimed."
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Summary: Ego-driven visit to the masses
Review: Cheever by his own admission has never been a true working stiff. He never actually needed the several minimum-wage jobs he embarked upon in order to write this book. And there lies the problem. Cheever is an interloper, a visitor, a tourist in a real-world where others must sink or swim, but not him. Thus he has nothing genuine to say.
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Summary: This book ...
Review: Here's the plot -- rich guy decides to dabble in the world of work with the rest of us and realizes it isn't pleasant. Too long. Too pompous..."Working Stiff's Manifesto : A Memoir" by Iain Levison was a much better book.
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Summary: Diary of a part time service employee
Review: I didn't like this book, call it "Nickel and Dimed" Lite, if you will. Upper middle class novelist lowers himself to act out the role of computer salesman, sandwich maker and so forth, but only on a part time basis mind you. Supposedly a look at the current downsizing climate in the US, Mr Cheever's observations are not very original, not that funny and at times, a tad condescending. The most grating moments were the occasional carping about having to work inconvenient hours, which were really a bit rich under the circumstances, considering a normal person would not have the option of returning to the high life whenever they felt like it. A trite comment about how he learned to regard service industry employees as hard working only beggars speculation as to what he thought of them before his project. The problem is, his experiences weren't real, in the sense that there was nothing at stake for him. If it was a genuine memoir of hard times before the fame and riches you could more readily buy into it, however this is just virtual slumming. Altogether, the book as social commentary is worthless, as light reading barely passable.
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Summary: Ben Cheever does a George Plimpton and succeeds admirably
Review: I have the impression that "Selling Ben Cheever" was pitched as being timely, for it was written in the mid-1990's when downsizing lead to massive layoffs of white-collar workers. "... That's the American dream, then: half nightmare. The song: `America the beautiful'. The game: musical chairs. The tempo has never been so frantic." Cheever's working title was "Square One," a perfect title given the subsequent travails of some of those downsized. Since most Americans are largely defined by their work, when one of us is knocked off his pedestal - particularly one of the taller models adopted by the management- and executive-class - the victim is both stunned and set adrift. Those who are over 45 are often unable to regain their lofty perches and instead must indeed start over. In his late forties, Cheever decided he was one of these victims. He claims his lifetime output of three not-very-successful novels qualify him as a bust, at least as a writer; plus he was laid off from a high-paying executive position at Reader's Digest. While his fall is cushioned by having a successful spouse (and probably royalties from his father's books), the pain is nonetheless real. "Work is about identity almost as much as it's about cash. People without jobs are people without status. The unemployment rate is universally accepted as a misery quotient." So Ben Cheever becomes the George Plimpton of the middle-aged unemployed white collar worker. He takes a variety of jobs: security guard, sandwich maker, and salesman. Most of the book is really a collection of insights into life on the "other side of the counter," a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of those working for the minimum wage or on commission. My favorite chapters were about when he worked at CompUSA and then as a car salesman, for they illuminate the darker areas of businesses we all must venture into as customers. In fact, far from being a depressing story relevant only to a demographic not even TV cares about, "Selling Ben Cheever" is highly entertaining and brimming with insights valuable to readers of all ages and economic status. It's also exhibits some inspired writing. The fruit has not fallen far from the tree.
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Summary: highly entertaining
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is especially timely and relevant in our present economy - one in which down-sizing and lay-offs have become the norm and it becomes increasingly difficult for those who have lost their jobs to secure employment. After "surviving" several lay-offs, my husband had a number of experiences that paralleled those of Ben Cheever. I was particularly impressed with his depiction of the car sales "game" and how he found himself caught up in it. Ben Cheever is able to write in a manner that is both thought-provoking and witty. This book is definitely worth a read!
Rating: 
Summary: Selling Ben Cheever
Review: I've got mixed feelings about Selling Ben Cheever. It is funny at times and the last ten pages or so almost redeem its worst moments, but I still can't wholeheartedly recommend it. I've been reading this book at a time when I find myself unemployed and at moments have been able to appreciate the book on this level. But the fact remains (and Cheever admits as much in the opening pages) that the author did not write this book because he was down and out. I remained conscious of this throughout reading the book and because of this I really couldn't take it too seriously-- it seemed to lack the sense of urgency and pain that accompany unemployment. For insights into those who find themselves unexpectedly cast into the service economy, don't read this book. For the occasional amusing anecdote about ridiculous jobs then this book might be for you.
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Summary: A Man and Not Just a Book Worth Remembering
Review: Selling Ben Cheever is a great read as he puts himself in the shoes of another. Having heard Bejamin Cheever lecture at the Bennington Writing Seminars, he said there are three things that make for bad writing: hating your subject, hating your audience, and teaching hate. Myself, as a writer who has come to be alone, I write out of desperate isolation. It is not an enjoyable place to be in but a place I find myself. How does a writer in such a place not get accused of failing on one of Benjamin Cheever's three failings of good writing? It's a question I ask myself when I ask, why would others want to read about isolation. Naturally, the human state seeks community. But sometimes writer's are alone. Should writer's who are alone stop writing because it is unpleasant to be alone and have this as the subject of one's poetry? To read more of Benjamin Cheever, I recommend www.archipelago.org where he has an essay on this book, The Selling of Ben Cheever, and touches upon why one writes.
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Summary: Ehrenreich theTraveler, Cheever the Tourist
Review: This is NOT Nickel and Dimed. Cheever admits that his wife is earning enough money to support the family, so he is not going to starve if he doesn't take these low-paying jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich was a traveler in the world of poverty-level jobs, mixing it up with the natives, living as they do, as much as was possible for a successful author with a doctorate. Cheever is a tourist, sightseeing and participating as an outsider. Cheever's book is meant, I think, to be a bit more fun than Ehrenreich's. And it is. While I admire the heck out of Ehrenreich and agree with her completely, I also appreciate looking at the light side of crappy jobs. I can remember flipping burgers and working the counter at McDonald's, and was in stiches over Cheever's stint at the sandwich shop. If you are fortunate enough to be able to look at minimum-wage jobs from the outside, I think you'll find Selling Ben Cheever entertaining. This may not be the best book to read while you are waiting to be interviewed for your next job, though.
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