Will Work for Food or $: A Memoir from the Roadside

Rating:
Summary: Roadside thriller
Review: At the age of 60, Bruce Moody found out the hard way that education from Yale and Columbia, published writing credits, a strong acting resume and years of work in the business world (as a contract employee) could not protect him from economic downturn. His struggle to keep a roof over his head, pay his bills, continue to develop and maintain his self-respect, and cope with his sister's serious illness, without burdening his family financially, is a story as suspenseful as anything by Ken Follett. Of interest to anyone, especially persons involved with human growth, spirituality, the arts, and any of us who've ever whizzed by those guys with the placards at freeway offramps, is this memoir. It details how, with fear and trepidation, Bruce Moody decided to trust his wellbeing to the kindness of strangers and stand by the roadside with the proverbial sign: "Will work for food or $". His expectations and prejudices are shattered as he finds that his life is being supported by people he does not know and, in many cases, will never know. How he handles, with grace and spiritual insight, this radical shift in his living patterns, until he can locate steady work, is a fascinating and thought-provoking memoir. Highly recommended and quite unexpected.

Rating:
Summary: a new Walden Pond
Review: At the age of 60, Yale educated Bruce Moody was fired from his job in the Bay area and could not get another. As homelessness loomed, he took what he perceived as the only way out: he became a beggar. In the year he spent standing on the off-ramp of a major highway with a sign reading,"Will Work for Food or $" and blessing the cars as they passed, the task he had set himself, Moody had plenty of time to contemplate the most unlovely contents of his own mind. He confronted shame and regret and opinion-making and grandiosity and all the rest of the baggage with which we are all saddled. Again and again, he encountered bliss. People, he reports, treated him impeccably--and this includes the people, very few, who insulted,or bullied him. Moody ceased being a victim and became something else entirely, a wide-awake human being. This book is remarkable not only as the account of an eccentric and dignified spiritual journey but also as a masterpiece of elegant prose.

Rating:
Summary: a new Walden Pond
Review: At the age of 60, Yale educated Bruce Moody was fired from his job in the Bay area and could not get another. As homelessness loomed, he took what he perceived as the only way out: he became a beggar. In the year he spent standing on the off-ramp of a major highway with a sign reading,"Will Work for Food or $" and blessing the cars as they passed, the task he had set himself, Moody had plenty of time to contemplate the most unlovely contents of his own mind. He confronted shame and regret and opinion-making and grandiosity and all the rest of the baggage with which we are all saddled. Again and again, he encountered bliss. People, he reports, treated him impeccably--and this includes the people, very few, who insulted,or bullied him. Moody ceased being a victim and became something else entirely, a wide-awake human being. This book is remarkable not only as the account of an eccentric and dignified spiritual journey but also as a masterpiece of elegant prose.

Rating:
Summary: IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD A COPY OF THIS BOOK -- BEG A COPY!
Review: I challenge anyone to read this book and look at roadside beggars in the same way as before. It is impossible, because you now know that the next beggar you pass just might be another Bruce Moody. Bruce Moody breaks all the steretypes. This is perhaps the most honest book I've ever read, and Moody's willingness to share with readers his inner process is extraordinary. Most people would find the mere act of standing on a street corner begging for work or money utterly embarrassing, and indeed, Moody himself struggles mightily with shame. But Moody courageously shares everything: not just the doing of it, but his self-condemnation, his stereotyping judgments of passersby (who will give? who won't give?), his struggles with guilt, fear, rage -- all the demons. Rarely does one encounter such an act of generosity as this book represents, when an author shares so intimately with readers. Because of Bruce Moody's generosity and his willingness to put truth before ego, I am able to learn something rich and rare about the human condition, and about myself -- because I am that same human being and I have my own roadsides. Although I have never literally had to beg on a roadside, I found myself irresistably identifying with Moody in his self-discoveries: I, too, am prejudiced; I, too, try to control the people, places and things around me; I, too, have moments when I am merciless with myself and with others; I, too, desire God; I, too, wonder about the source and meaning of blessing.

But most of all, I am glad I read this book for the hope it gives. If I am ever faced with a desperate situation, Bruce Moody will be there in the back of my mind, coaching. I read this book with a chilly spine, I'll tell you, for the prospect of losing your home and going begging is terrifying. But at the same time I read with a sense of adventure, wonder, and even joy. Joy? Yes, joy. That's where Bruce Moody ultimately takes his readers, straight into the realm of joy, right there in the most unexpected of places, along the roadside. To me, that's the greatest message of the book. It's the treasure buried in the field, and thank you Bruce for digging it up and sharing it with all of us. Congratulations!

Rating:
Summary: Very unusual and extremely powerful, moving
Review: Take Dostoyevsky's "Notes from the Underground," mix it with the Biblical stories of Job's travails and Jacob's wrestling, simmer for 60 years, stir in American optimism and the popular career book, "What Color is Your Parachute," bring to a rolling boil, remove from heat, let cool, serve, and you'll have Bruce Moody's memoir, "Will Work for Food or $."

All who have encountered beggars in America should read Mr. Moody's memoir. It makes no difference whether you've agonized over the plight of beggars, as I have, or criticized them for being too picky in their job searches, as I also have. You will find Moody's experiences and soul searching powerful and interesting on several levels.

Moody's memoir takes us into the mind and experiences of an honest senior citizen begging for work to stay afloat. His experience is not the result of a contrived, self-imposed literary or journalistic assignment but instead comes from his struggle to survive and keep his home. Political and intellectual motives can drive authors to concoct or artificially partake of experiences inorder to make points or satisfy intellectual curiosity, but such works lack the deep, poetic soul searching and humor of Moody's work.

His memoir contains much more than temporal descriptions of financial and employment predicaments. It reveals Moody's deepest thoughts of optimism, self-doubt, prejudice, humility, spirituality, pride, desire, honesty, discipline and survival. It stays away from politicizing and intellectualizing the problems of homelessness and poverty in America, and instead focuses on people in their essence in face-to-face encounters. He doesn't confine his spiritual thoughts to an abstract world but lets them stand and sit freely with him by the roadside. People frequently surprised Moody while he begged, and me, too, as I read the book.

Moody's writing style reflects the openness and honesty of his accounts. He is not constrained by rules of grammar. His writing is more akin to poetry and therefore better conveys his thoughts and emotions than prosaic, proper English. He knows what he's doing, though, and I'm not the only one who thinks so: in his memoir we learn The New Yorker and other prestigious magazines published other works of his years before his financial plight. We also learn about his great love of acting and his successful pursuit of work in theater and film.

This memoir shows its author to be highly principled and disciplined. He strives to stick to his self-promises, such as writing about people who helped him while he begged. My only criticism is small and is related to this honoring: the last fourth of the book inspired me less and seemed a little bit like some sort of acknowledgement roll call, though not actually becoming perfunctory. But Moody promised he would acknowledge these people, and he does. I enthusiastically recommend "Will Work for Food or $." Everyone should read it and every home library should have it. There is no other book quite like it.

Rating:
Summary: Very unusual and extremely powerful, moving
Review: Take Dostoyevsky's "Notes from the Underground," mix it with the Biblical stories of Job's travails and Jacob's wrestling, simmer for 60 years, stir in American optimism and the popular career book, "What Color is Your Parachute," bring to a rolling boil, remove from heat, let cool, serve, and you'll have Bruce Moody's memoir, "Will Work for Food or $."

All who have encountered beggars in America should read Mr. Moody's memoir. It makes no difference whether you've agonized over the plight of beggars, as I have, or criticized them for being too picky in their job searches, as I also have. You will find Moody's experiences and soul searching powerful and interesting on several levels.

Moody's memoir takes us into the mind and experiences of an honest senior citizen begging for work to stay afloat. His experience is not the result of a contrived, self-imposed literary or journalistic assignment but instead comes from his struggle to survive and keep his home. Political and intellectual motives can drive authors to concoct or artificially partake of experiences inorder to make points or satisfy intellectual curiosity, but such works lack the deep, poetic soul searching and humor of Moody's work.

His memoir contains much more than temporal descriptions of financial and employment predicaments. It reveals Moody's deepest thoughts of optimism, self-doubt, prejudice, humility, spirituality, pride, desire, honesty, discipline and survival. It stays away from politicizing and intellectualizing the problems of homelessness and poverty in America, and instead focuses on people in their essence in face-to-face encounters. He doesn't confine his spiritual thoughts to an abstract world but lets them stand and sit freely with him by the roadside. People frequently surprised Moody while he begged, and me, too, as I read the book.

Moody's writing style reflects the openness and honesty of his accounts. He is not constrained by rules of grammar. His writing is more akin to poetry and therefore better conveys his thoughts and emotions than prosaic, proper English. He knows what he's doing, though, and I'm not the only one who thinks so: in his memoir we learn The New Yorker and other prestigious magazines published other works of his years before his financial plight. We also learn about his great love of acting and his successful pursuit of work in theater and film.

This memoir shows its author to be highly principled and disciplined. He strives to stick to his self-promises, such as writing about people who helped him while he begged. My only criticism is small and is related to this honoring: the last fourth of the book inspired me less and seemed a little bit like some sort of acknowledgement roll call, though not actually becoming perfunctory. But Moody promised he would acknowledge these people, and he does. I enthusiastically recommend "Will Work for Food or $." Everyone should read it and every home library should have it. There is no other book quite like it.

Rating:
Summary: the dharma rings twice
Review: The devotion to detail, the honesty, the dignity, the humanity, the willingness to put a personal philosophy to the test-all these qualities come up roses in this book.

On both levels, the level of person and the level of writer, the author seized the authentic moment of his reality and recognized the power that flows from his being able to totally accept and acknowledge himself, where he's at, and once able to do that with surprise, openness, a lack of bitterness, and an absorption in the moment, he's on your way.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Honesty
Review: This is a difficult book for me to review. I want to like it for the graceful form of the paragraphs, elegant structure of the sentences and impeccable choice of words, and I like it very much. It does get tiresome reading about the tedium of standing for long periods of time holding a sign. Yes, that must be tiresome. But what is impressive is the author's honesty. He lays bare his fears and his self-justifying inner dialog, allowing me to judge him. Then I must question why I am judging him. He's just like me!

It is fascinating learning of the relationships that develop between the author and the people he comes into contact with in his struggle for survival. When I had decided he knows nothing of compassion, he writes of his loving care for his sister and I get to see I misjudged.

I don't always like this guy, but then I don't always like myself. I learned to appreciate being manipulated into seeing my weaknesses and learning to be grateful for them. This book changed me.

Rating:
Summary: Eye-opening, profoundly moving
Review: Who are these people who beg by the side of the road? What has driven them to so desperate a measure as panhandling? How much money do they collect? Where do they go and how do they live when they are not on the streetcorners? While Bruce Moody's book cannot speak for all street beggars, it does provide a thoughtful and penetrating glimpse into the hidden world of the down and out. In reading this account, one must perforce give up the well-worn cliches and stereotypes about those inhabiting this netherworld. Moody's tale is one of raw adversity, yes, but also one of redemption. The kindness of strangers he encounted in one year is, I daresay, more than most of us will experience in a lifetime. "Will Work For Food or $" shines as a bright beacon of hope through the darkness of despair.