Rating: 
Summary: Surviving
Review: I thought that Barbara Ehrenreich took an excellent shot at making it by on minimum wage. Although she did not excell at surviving, the point was not to prove the ease of making it in the blue-collar society. I have heard and read many say that she gave up too soon and with ease. How many of you could go from upper middle class with a nice cushion behind you to the depths of poverty? How much more would she have to suffer before the raging "leftist" label could be removed from her? I give Barbara my gratitude for showing those who have not had the headache of struggling to survive a taste of what it is like. On that note I say give my thanks there is a book out there that brings some insight on this often overlooked (and definiately overworked)group of people.
Rating:
Summary: Nickel and Dimed
Review: This was a very insightful book. It gives the reader a closer look at what some people have to go through each day of their lives. This book gave me a new found respect for the sacrifices some people make just to survive. In this book, Barbara Ehrenreich attempts to show how life is really like living in a low-wage America. After reading it, it made me appreciate all the things I take for granted every day. Simple things such as not worrying if I will have enough to pay for rent next month, I take for granted where other people struggle to have enough money for food. Nickel and Dimed gave me a better understanding of how hard it is to find a job requiring no skill that gives a living wage.
Rating:
Summary: Class in America
Review: Most blue-collar readers will find this book annoying at times, for reasons that the other reviewers have already described. Yes, the author is a clueless knee-jerk liberal (although to her credit, she tries hard to get a clue). And her helplessness when confronted with common real-life problems borders on silly. For instance, when staying in a seedy motel, the author is dismayed that her window has a transparent curtain. She finds it difficult to sleep, knowing that any passerby can look in at her. Any woman forced to stay in that room would share her fear and sleeplessness. But most women who have lived in poverty all their lives would have immediately known what to do in that situation -- take the bedspread off the bed and use it to cover the window. This doesn't occur to the author, because she is completely out of her element. But I don't fault her for that. In fact, I applaud her for putting herself in one difficult situation after another so she can try to report to other privileged people how the less privileged are forced to live. I was disappointed that when the author could no longer live within her wages at the seedy motel, she abandoned the attempt and moved to a nice hotel, complete with air-conditioning. What a cop-out, right? But anyone in her shoes who could afford to get out of that hellhole would have done the same. In many ways this book is more about class than about poverty. Blue collars readers can learn a lot from this book how white-collar people like the writer live and think. I was especially surprised by her apparent belief that workers should be allowed to steal from the company now and then. But then, perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise since she comes from the same social class as CEOs. It's no surprise that she thinks it's cool to take drugs, and has open contempt for religion. These attitudes make it impossible for her to comprehend how ordinary working people think. On the plus side, her descriptions of working life are often extremely funny and accurate. She learns quickly about the exhaustion and hopelessness of everyday life. And yes, as soon as she can, she walks away from this life. But why fault her for that? Who wouldn't do the same? Within her limitations, the author makes an honest attempt to learn about real life, and to share what she's learned with other upper-class liberals -- the only people who are in a position to help the working poor, and care enough to do so. I applaud her for that.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant book
Review: This book is amazing. Kudos to Ehrenreich who puts herself in a setting where many people would never dare to go. Ehrenreich works as a house cleaner, Wal-Mart employee, waitress and many other thankless jobs to tell the story of low-income wages and how impossible it is for many to survive in this world solely on what they make. Ehrenreich is unbiased in her storytelling and seems to report many facts. Besides her insight on how it is to work at these thankless jobs for thankless employers is the characters she works with and how she describes and interacts with them detailing their stories in this book. Reading this will make you realize how lucky you are for your current salary and not having to work two jobs just to survive like many in this book. Wake up to the reality of low-income jobs and read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A flawed, but interesting read
Review: Once starting Barbara Ehrenreich's book, "Nickel and Dimed," I simply could not put it down (well, it helps that I was stuck in jury duty for 3 days, but, still...). I've been wanting to read this book for some time - the concept of someone abandoning their comfortable lifestyle to tough it out with the working class for journalistic purposes sounded very interesting to me. After reading this book, I can see that it is so much more than that. While trying to determine whether one can survive on the low wages of unskilled labor, Ehrenreich also uncovers several other topics. You'll read the horrors of the cleaning business and the relentless work that waitresses and Wal-Mart workers endure. She describes the hopelessness of the working class in such detail that you can't help but question the motives that these people have for sticking with a certain job (Ehrenreich has an answer for this question as well). There are even some moments when the author gets fed up with it all herself and resents everything from her fellow workers to minorities. Like most people, I tend to skip past footnotes when reading almost anything from textbooks to articles, but don't make the mistake of doing so with "Nickel and Dimed"! The most interesting (and often shocking) portions of this relatively short book come directly from the footnotes, in which Ehrenreich quotes a wide range of sources, from cleaning experts to books on the conflicts of race in low wage professions. These bits of info are so interesting that I even feel compelled to read the books and articles that were referenced. The only thing that stopped me from giving this book a perfect score is the fact that the author had CHOSEN this way of life in order to gain further insight. Knowing this, along with the somewhat lenient self-imposed rules that she had when deciding to go through with this investigation, made it difficult to feel sympathy for her experiences as opposed to someone who legitimately has to be in the described situations. Otherwise, I highly recommend "Nickel and Dimed" for its original concept and its simple but revealing content.
Rating: 
Summary: really eye opening
Review: The author is a brave gal who showed me a world I did not know. More than ever I appreciate the blessings I have and how hard the have-nots have to work.
Give this book to your teenager. The importance of training for the work world is paramount.
Rating:
Summary: Nickel and Dimed
Review: 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: Nickel and Dimed - On (Not) Getting By In America
Review: Barbara Ehrenreich, Ph.D. (biology) has produced a powerful work of investigative journalism. She left her comfortable upper middle-class home and existence as a successful writer to live among the working poor. She became their voice, and told us how the system works. She took on a series of jobs: waitressing, hotel room cleaner (non union), nursing home aide, maid service, and an associate at Wal-Mart, in different parts of the country and tried to live within a budget. She did not always succeed. Housing would be the drain in most cases. The poor, with no resources, wind up living in residential motels and trailer parks. This is expensive given what they get for the money, and what it costs in relation to their incomes. Ehrenreich discovers that there is no job that should ever be considered an "unskilled" job because they are all difficult in their own ways. The jobs made physical demands she did not at first expect. Although she was in good shape she often found herself in pain, and noted that many of her fellow workers often worked through serious illness's or physical injuries. They had no medical insurance, could not afford to lose a paycheck, or feared being fired. Many were single mothers. There was nothing for them to do other than to work through their pain and suffer until it passed. Ehrenreich is incredible in telling the story of these "poor" people. She doesn't bore you the way you think you'd be bored, she is now known for her sharp, humorous critique of American capitalism and middle-class life. Ehrenreich is a professional journalist and lecturer, with a Ph.D. under her belt. Though she may not know it, she is the perfect translator between worlds.
Rating:
Summary: the introduction alone is worth the price
Review: That said, this book is very appropriate reading for all Americans who believe that this could be a better country. Not only are corporate employers using their employees as disposables, but also they are giving their customers some very unhealthy food and dangerously dirty house cleaning. If you don't care about your fellow Americans, there are tales to worry the complete egoist.
Rating:
Summary: Anecdoctal and factual; useful for understanding.
Review: I found this book to be extremely helpful in understanding what's going on in the lower bracket of income these days; without much exposure to how things actually are, I've been going off of what I was able to learn myself, and through media. The information is presented in an almost diary-like, anecdotal format; as an afterthought, factual footnotes provide down-to-earth backing for some of the more "out there" experiences. I like how it reads; it's coherent, makes sense, and keeps focused on the point. As it progresses, a focus develops in the author's mind about social activism; I'd like to see an entire book dedicated simply to the topic of such social activism. Good read; it's something I'd add to my shelf to explain things to other people with, or perhaps to loan to a good friend.
| 
