Rating: 
Summary: Not a scholarly book, but it doesn't claim to be!
Review: I had a great time with this book, commiserating with the author in parts and snorting with derision at others, but I get the impression that this is precisely Ehrenreich's point: that we more fortunate people would likely react in the same way she did.I felt sympathy for the people Ehrenreich worked with but not really for her (since I knew she could leave) and yes, I am a bleeding-heart liberal, but I can also say that I've been working a similar job (food service) for a year now while in a grad program and have seen firsthand some of the stresses minimum-wage workers are subject to. At the same time, every single stereotype about the poor has been blown to bits by my experiences there. The women I work with are all from Central America, most work two jobs (at minimum wage) and send most of their money home to their families, one is illegal (and the best-educated), and they all bust their butts in their jobs - in my opinion, they're not paid enough for what they do (heavy kitchen work). Not one owns a car; one commutes an hour each way to get to the store. In the year I've been there, I've not seen any of them call in sick, even though one had a horrible throat infection and another had a kidney infection; a third had eye surgery and was there the next day. The boyfriend of the latter (who himself has two jobs) came in with her every night for a week and helped her close (with no pay) - scrubbing the grill, washing dishes, etc. The more I see in this job, the more spoiled (and, in a way, guilty, liberal that I am) I feel because I know I can leave; at the same time, I feel more and more contempt for the privileged that I supposedly "serve": they come in from their office jobs, take their petty problems out on me or another cashier if they've had a bad day (boo-hoo), and, in the setting I'm in, waste unbelievable amounts of perfectly good food (ca. 20 oz. per order) because they themselves misordered (oops - I wanted black, not pinto, beans (same basic thing, d-uh); oh - I didn't realize the salsa had tomatoes; oh dear, the salsa is too hot, even though I ordered EXTRA salsa; could you please throw these out and make new ones?) I know this all sounds like small stuff, but just think about how this multiplies by person and by retail setting - the poverty, the pettiness, and the waste: Do we as a society really want to be like this? And I think THIS is what the book asks the reader; it is not a matter of judging the author's efforts so much as drawing attention to and examining why we as a society are so callous in ignoring and even mistreating others in a supposedly "classless" society.
Rating:
Summary: Proving the inability to get by on minimum wage.
Review: Beginning the book, I had a few problems with Ehrenreich's "cheating": she had her bank account to fall back on, she kept her car/rented cars because "I just figured that a story about waiting for busses would not be very interesting to read." (yes, but it would be more accurate), and she researched job postings on her own home comuter. But doesn't this actually PROVE that you can NOT get by on minimum wage? In the end, if her book can elicit responses like the one below from another reader on this site, it has performed an invaluable service. If you didn't like the book, please, (re)read this person's response. "I couldn't put this book down. I found it fascinating to learn about a way of life that I have had no exposure to, as my father is a lawyer and nobody in my family has ever had I job like the ones that Ehrenreich held. Even my very first job as a lifeguard earned me $... an hour, more than any one of the jobs that she took in this book. I really respect her for being able to get by (even though she didn't think she would be able to at some points) on such little money. This book also gave me respect for people who actually have to live their entire lives on a "living wage" that no person could actually live a reasonable life on. I never really respected people with jobs that you don't need any skills to get, and this inside look at these jobs made me think twice about the amount of hard work that these people actually do. From now on I will be more respectful of people who may not have ever had the opportunities that I have had, and I will no longer leave pathetically small tips when the waitress is slower than usual-maybe she's just very tired.
This book is a must-read. It made me think differently about the life that I am lucky enough to have, and it helped me to see just how strong some people who have not had my luck can be."
Rating: 
Summary: Unpleasant information...about Barbara Ehrenreich
Review: "Nickel and Dimed" might have been an informative study of the living and working conditions of low-wage workers, something like a modern version of "The Road to Wigan Pier". Although Orwell's book was an exercise in proving his preconceptions, he was careful and observant in describing the horrific living and working conditions of depression-era coal miners. "Nickel and Dimed" is, in contrast, primarily an inventory of the author's prejudices, incompetence, condescension, and petty hatreds. A few bits of interesting (though not particularly novel) statistical information on the working poor sneak in through the footnotes, but otherwise "Nickel and Dimed" is merely a monumental exercise in solipsism. Dr Ehrenreich's topic is her own limited experience; she only occasionally writes about her coworkers and it is done in terms of breakroom gossip and personal speculations. The pages in between are filled with an angry prima donna's disdain for paid labor, contempt for social inferiors, loathing of wealthier people, and respect for herself alone (and perhaps Lewis Lapham). Taken as a memoir the book might still have been worthwhile, but it is unfortunately composed in the snide voice of a narcissistic freshman who seeks to demonstrate superior humor through easy sarcasm and superior morality with easier sanctimony. It is awfully tiring. The conclusive chapter, in which I hoped might redeem the book with some valuable insight, starts with a charitable self-evaluation, moves on to a promising discussion of the immense problem of rent inflation, but returns to admittedly thin musings on her coworkers' mindsets drawn primarily from her own preconceptions and her extremely brief life as a wage slave. The class warrior rhetoric is a little hard to take seriously from a narrator who openly loathes the "owner class" two chapters before reporting a $20000 tax "subsidy" from her mortgage deduction. (It is unclear to this renter whether the figure refers to the amount of income deduction or actual tax savings, but either way it sounds like an ownership situation.) "Nickel and Dimed" was both frustrating and remarkably disappointing. I was hoping to read an honest and illuminating study of the working poor, but instead I got a snarky adolescent memoir which became increasingly boring by the page. For some insight into low-wage workers, I strongly suspect that books like Studs Terkel's "Working" and Alison Owings's "Hey Waitress!" are far more lucid and enlightening. If the "undercover journalist" element is what you're after, try Ted Conover's "Newjack".
Rating: 
Summary: whoa nelly!
Review: i just finished this book today. it was a quick read, and felt like an extension of an entertaining essay one might read in a sociology 101 class. i was floored by all of the rebel-rousing this book has caused here on amazon. i had no idea people were so worked up about this book! i suppose since it did make it to the bestseller lists it may be the only book on the subject of poverty a lot of people have read, and so they're taking ehrenreich's musings as 'the word', or lack thereof. i don't know. sure, she came across as a liberal, upper-class white woman - that's what she is. you can't go into the world of poverty for an 'assignment' and really get to the bottom of it all. i liken it to the person who is blinfolded to experience blindness, even though they know they'll be able to take the blindfold off. i enjoyed reading about her experiences at the various jobs she worked, and wish she could have left it at that. the summarization of what she learned backed up by statistics didn't do it for me, and the last i-have-to-finish-this-term-paper-it-was-due-an-hour-ago sentence was el-lame-o. i recommend this book as a light, sometimes funny, othertimes depressing, read. it isn't groundbreaking, but it most likely will make you take a look around, whatever your life situation may be.
Rating:
Summary: Precious but compelling
Review: ..... The paragraph you quoted from Page 121 was an example of Erenreich's deadpan sarcasm and wit. She was offering commentary on racism, marginalization and stereotypes, not sincerely espousing them. There is no dearth of holier-than-thou liberal guilt in this book (already touched on in more eloquent detail by other readers, not to mention the band Pulp in the song "Common People")--after all, it's always grating to see someone from the affluent classes deign to see how the paupers live for the sake of journalism. That said, I think NICKEL AND DIMED is an excellently-written piece of muckraking and makes some good points, and it is a welcom alternative to the piles and piles Dinesh D'Souza pap out there.
Rating:
Summary: a good read; count your blessings
Review: Just the fact that I am typing this and you are reading it says that we are far more fortunate that the people depicted in this book. Although I don't think she was condescending about the workers she wrote about; I would have liked to have seen more scnenarios, more stories from the average worker. To me, the evaluation of her experience began rather abruptly. I wondered if she grew tired of eating from a microwave or hot plate and decided to "wrap it up". However, I laughed on many occasions at her wonderful skills. Although I am not a maid, I do get paid a healthy sum to walk around mansions all day. So, I, in a way, can relate to the maid's point of view. (especially when seeing "antique" books only for show!)I think this book is worth reading, if nothing else but for you to sit there and realize how fortunate you may be. I know that this is what I did. If you want a book on the economic analysis of poverty in the US, buy something else. This is a book from a somewhat daring author who will make you think about the "working" people we see every day, and don't think twice about.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good book
Review: Coming from poverty as a child & still trying to get out of poverty, I've worked, gone to college, & am a single mother. It was interesting to see the working poor from a rich person's perspective... I think the author did a pretty good job. She doesn't claim to have done hardcore research here folks. She just did what others do everyday, but for a much shorter time. She admits there is a difference between what she has done & the real thing. I will admit I got a little bored with it after the second job, so I took a break from reading this. But the end, her evaluation (or whatever she called it) was very interesting, I thought. If you're interested in the growing gap between the rich & the poor, this is a good one. I know there are a lot of other things that she could have done --like live in public subsidized housing instead of regular housing. Also, the cicumstances would have been even worse if she had been a single mother or been a woman (or man) of color.
Rating:
Summary: Ain't it the truth
Review: Ms. Ehrenreich writes a credible memoir of her minimum-wage experiement. She tried to live on minimum wage in different cities and economic markets, and reports dutifully on her inability to find affordable housing, decent working conditions, or enough sleep. While Ehrenreich only tried her experiment for a short time, she provides us with more than enough details to bring to life that special combination of tedium and terror that frames the life of the working poor.
Rating:
Summary: The poor are essentially making it in America
Review: The well educated and affluent Barbara Ehrenreich joined the workforce of the moderately poor. She labored for the purpose of writing this book as a waitress, housecleaner, a low level health care provider, and even a Wal-Mart sales associate. Ehrenreich is politically far to the left of center and perhaps hoped to present an America that is cruel and ruthless towards its economically disadvantaged. She, however, ironically makes an excellent case that while these workers struggle to make ends meet---they still can get enough to eat and prepare for better future employment opportunities. The author stresses the difficultly of living alone on a $6-7 per hour job. She overlooks the fact that many of these people share their quarters with others of similar circumstance. I suspect that Ms. Ehrenreich did likewise during her college years. Also, how many middle class families could easily survive if the two top bread winners lived in separate quarters? Are lower skilled and high turnover employees often looked down upon and treated as second best citizens? The answer is unfortunately yes and 'Nickel and Dimed' reminds us that our egalitarian sentiments don't always survive well when tested in the real world. The author most assuredly would like the government to take a more active role in the lives of these people. Ms. Ehrenreich fails to comprehend that the poor will best improve their lot in life if compelled to compete in the private sector. For instance, she mentions working with a nineteen year old Czech immigrant dishwasher. I would bet a few dollars that this young man is no longer engaged in such menial labor. A viable society cannot afford to unwittingly encourage perpetual dependency. Those at the bottom have to start somewhere, and these bottom rung jobs normally serve to help one to pull themselves up by their own proverbial bootstraps. Is the author arrogant and condescending toward the subjects of her journalistic study? I don't find this to be the case at all. It is virtually impossible not to ruffle feathers with this sort of book. Barbara Ehrenreich is damned if she mentions her actual privilege lifestyle, and even more damned if she doesn't. Nonetheless, I did feel uncomfortable with her tolerance of the smoking habits of some of these people. Would she do the same with those of her own social set? I recommend this book as an overall fair and insightful look at those many of us will rarely interact with on an intimate level. Ehrenreich leaves much to be desired as a labor policy theorist, but deserves praise as an astute social observer. I would also strongly advise the reader to seek out Mickey Kaus' brilliant book, 'The End of Equality.' The latter work philosophically compliments her journalistic endeavor.
Rating: 
Summary: Offensive, if not obviously degrading
Review: Page 121: "I had thought for months of going to Sacramento or somewhere else in California's Central Valley not far from Berkeley, where I'd spent the spring. But warnings about the heat and the allergies put my off, not to mention my worry that the Latinos might be hogging all the crap jobs and substandard housing for themselves, as they so often do."
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