Rating: 
Summary: Not 'marxist' at all...
Review: Some reviewers need to calm down. This book is not marxist or communist or whatever. It's a quick read that can be funny at times & sad at others. Take it at face value & don't read too much into it. It's not 'left-wing' or trying to overthrow the government...it's a book about work.I really enjoyed reading about the author's different jobs around the country. I can totally relate to working retail and I laughed at her humor. I also felt for many of her coworkers and their situations. The book really makes you think about what it's like to be poor & Ehrenreich backs up her statistics with hard facts & data. Those who call the book marxist have completely misinterpreted it. Why does the right have to come out with guns ablaze when they disagree? There's no need for that.
Rating: 
Summary: Not good
Review: I had to read this book for class...I found a very unaccurate potrayl of poverty, Ehrenreich only keeps jobs for a month, quits when the going gets tough, and does not fully emerse herself in a low-class society.
Rating: 
Summary: Nickel and Duh-med?
Review: Whilst an extremely insightful look into low-wage work in post welfare reform America, the "experiment" of Barbara Ehrenreich only scratched the surface of the day-to-day life of the "worker" class. I say "experiment" though it can hardly be called that. While she had a good idea - namely to investigate first-hand how some people can survive on a $6-$7 hourly wage - I felt like she really didn't put much effort into it. She didn't remain in a place long enough to establish if she could have survived on such a meager pay - on the contrary, after a maximum of a month in a place, she would simply give up and go elsewhere. Few low-wage workers have that option, along with the extra money that she had stashed away as a safety net. No, if you are going to do investigative reporting, do it right. She has an impressive list of publications she has written for mentioned on the inside cover. With a list like that, you'd expect she would have done better. She also displays a tendency to be overly Marxist at times, rather crudely dividing the world into the the "proletariat" and the "bourgeoisie"; the people who buy enormous copper pots just for show, and those that clean them (and break goldfish bowls in the process). I've been a low-wage worker before, and can safely assume that I am still one, as I'm a full-time student and my skanty paychecks are not long in hand (rent, school, bills, and living expenses take their toll). Ehrenreich had the right idea, and I would love to see deeper delving into the world of the working class individual. This is a fascinating topic, though not explored in its entirety here.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow.
Review: This is an amazing book. I know projects like this have been done before, but Barbara puts facts, experiences and witty insights together in ways that will make you laugh out loud and get a little misty-eyed. Tragic, funny, illuminating and frustrating, it has been the best book I've read all year.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Read
Review: This book is a good introduction to the problems the working poor face, but don't expect too much from this book. She sets out to see if she can make it, not to uncover injustices, help people or tell other people's stories. She sticks to her own rules set out in the beginning and learns a lot about how the lower classes function. This was a hard experiment to pursue and I think we should all recognize how difficult it was. Her book is an interesting read that will open some eyes and hopefully hearts.
Rating:
Summary: Nickel and Marxed
Review: If you have ever worked a minimum wage job in your life then you can skip this book. I gave it two stars because it isn't entirely useless and there are some people who maybe don't know that life [stinks] at the bottom. The work could have been better if Barbara's SEVERE bias didn't surface again and again. She seems to have a uniquely American combination of contempt for capitalism, the middle class, and religion combined with her own high standard of living. She regards the "owner class" as disgusting fat pigs and uncultured idiots whose only delights are low brow literature and abusing lower class workers. She has the upper class leftist fake reverence for the working class, trying hard to disguise her disgust at their bad teeth, clothes, and hairstyles. This "experiment" started with her trying to make it in Key West on minimum wage! Duh. You will hear again and again about her PhD, her years of working out, and her lifestyle as a "seminar leader". If you like Marxist ranting, then you might really love this book.
BTW- I would NEVER hire someone for ANY job who thinks getting high in the parking lot and stealing from work are OK.
Rating: 
Summary: Nicel and Dimed review
Review: The idea behind this book sounded very interesting. However, the way the author has written the book doesn't provide much more information than what we already know. The author did a half assed job in her experiment. The author could have gotten the same information just by making a few simple phone calls. The author really didn't provide us with information that we don't already know.
Rating:
Summary: Sadly Disappointed
Review: I read Nickel and Dimed with great interest recently. Nickel and Dimed is to be commended for attempting to bring the daily struggles of poor Americans to the forefront. However the book's noble goals were overshadowed by its faults.
1. The author seemed unable to stop dwelling on how different (educated, smart, wealthy) she was compared to the people whose lives and tribulations she described. There was a vivid arrogance in how she portrayed herself and those around her. It may have seemed appropriate initially to address this difference, but it persisted throught the entire book, and often took on a belittling character with respect to those people around her. After 50 pages of it, I began to believe that the book gave greater insight into the author's sense of superiority than into the subject matter. 2. The author's job experiences were disingenuous. She typically quit her jobs over the first and slightest reprimand. She admits to cheating (ie going back to her 'previous life') for a break. 3. The book gave little insight into the daily lives of poor working Americans. She dealt mainly with the daily tasks of her jobs and how she came to choose those jobs. The occasional footnotes were actually much more interesting, as they gave real information about life in America. 4. The bias. From the book's clear political bias to the grossly anti-religious statements (calling Jesus Christ a 'wine-guzzling vagrant') it seemed that the author's personal views could not be separated from the story. Bear in mind, a book with a bias is not necessarily dishonest. But the author seems to have not had the confidence to believe that the facts and the events that took place could stand witness alone. Overall, Nickel and Dimed took on a geat subject, but poorly. I was very disappointed at how little it said about the lives of poor Americans compared to how much it said about the author.
Rating:
Summary: NO new New's
Review: This book was interesting, but not till the end of the book. The first part of the book was really hard for me to understand Barbara because she came off so arrogant. For me Nickel and Dimed wasn't new information, for me or anyone I know. My life was worse than what she was writing about because I had to pay my next months rent. I didn't have the option to just get up and decide it was time for me to move to the next town cause I was tired of dealing with the reality of life. Barbara on the other hand had that option and she had her back up money, that the working poor don't have. It wasn't till the end of the book that she didn't come off ssooo arrogant. Barbara had a really good idea about doing the study to see if she could live on the pay of a minimum wage job. I didn't really care for how she went about her study, but the book wasn't that bad I guess.
Rating:
Summary: Longer time needed for "research"
Review: As I began to read the book, I did not like it. I did not like the fact how easy it was for her that she knew she could fall back on previous earnings that she had. It is not the real sense of reality because those who do have a minimum wage income do not have that cushion. Later on in the book, I found it interesting all the little tid bits of facts she provided from each job. Also, on the drug testing, I believe in it because there are many liabilities for the employer, so most people should not be shocked to be tested. Overall, I found this book interesting. Once I started a section, it was hard to put it down because I always wanted to know what she was going to say next. I do not think this book is a true-life fact of being able to make it on minimum wage though. It needed to be a longer time period, and the way she left a job gave the book a false sense because not just anyone who needs the income will up and leave a job. Maybe find someone who really does live this life and have them write a book. Let's compare, then.
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