Rating: 
Summary: the truth hurts, but boy is it funny!
Review: The fact that this book has landed squarely in the love it or hate it catagory must mean it's doing something right. I weigh in on the love it side for the shallow reason that it made me laugh all night long. Oh yeah, it's got a serious message, that the poor deserve a fighting chance they don't always get. Excuse me for reverting back to 20th century lingo but... DUH! Of course they do. Ehrenrich didn't need to write a book to tell us that. Look here, she wrote a book about it and some people still don't believe her. But here's what she did so effectively most haven't even noticed. Instead of a standard thesis backed by academic research, she wrote three stories and her research was actual experience. Hard arguing with that.
I've never worked in Walmart or as a Maid of any sort, but I can say that Ehrenrich's experiences as a waitress hit very close to home, as I'm a bartender who often has to wait tables. Long hours on your feet, many days in a row DOES change you into a meaner version of yourself. Yet, a bond is formed between server and servee. You'd have to be heartless to not want to sneak your customers a few extra croutons for their salad. All in all, two thumbs up. Though the social message may have been lost of me because I knew it already, the clever writing was well worth the read.
And that bird who liked to sleep on her head... hilarious!
Rating:
Summary: Revealing Slice
Review: What's it like to be one of the working poor? Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover to find out. A lot of people have trouble with this since she's really a well-paid academic, and not a true daughter of the working class. I don't. Because not too many people working 14 hour days write books, and no one writing books has taken the vow of poverty to find out. Nickel and Dimed ought to be required reading for everyone, especially our elected officials, as though anything other than a fat campaign contribution can move them.The author tells her story first-hand, in a no nonsense style that is neither detached nor maudlin, and reveals as much about herself as the world she's gotten into. As it turns out, what she's gotten into means not only stretching meager dollars and cents, but holding together emotionally and physically on a weekly paycheck that probably equals the sum Bill Gates tips his favorite waiter. Moreover, I get the feeling that researcher and human being Ehrenreich just about loses it when housecleaner Holly drags around a broken foot because of abject loyalty to some abusive company policy. Oh sure, apologists for the business class will resist the book's results, since this personal account--supported, incidentally, by relevant statistics-- undercuts that hoariest of employer apologetics about hard work and dedication eventually paying off. To the contrary, numbers since 1973 indicate hard work and dedication among the working poor only guarantees more hard work and self-sacrifice. Joining the ranks of the minimum wage has become an ache-and-pain treadmill to nowhere but the nearest fast food joint and hospital charity ward. Worse, it's insulting to be called an associate or some other public relations gimmick while being treated like a convict on guest release, with short rations and short leash to boot. Nor can any amount of million dollar fuzz-over or media lack of attention alter this gut level reality that 30 percent of our work force faces daily. Despite the ad-hominem attacks on her background and motives, Ehrenreich's work fulfills one of America's finest and most honorable traditions--that of the muckraker. To her credit, she has never swapped a social conscience for a PhD entry card into a lifetime of ivory tower insouciance. So until one of those harrassed, underpaid and under-empowered women (or men) finds the time to write a better expose' , I'll be content with Dr. Ehrenreich's. In the meantime I'll be working for those measures I think will help: an increased minimum wage, universal health insurance, affordable child care and housing, repeal of Taft Hartley, and most of all, a sense of dignity for all useful work. Because, as one wag puts it, mink coats don't trickle down.
Rating: 
Summary: At least she has a sense of irony about herself
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book, and as I did I sensed it is an important book. It made me oh-so-thankful for my well paid, not-terribly stressful position. She actually writes quite well, she has a lot to say..and best of all, she has a healthy dose of self-irony. For example, about her "consciousness-raising" subversion at Wal-Mart she concludes that she is just doing it to amuse herself while working by trying to create a fantasy that she is somehow special or above it all. Compare this book to Bill Bryson's book on America, "The Lost Continent", and you will not waste your time on Bill again. I would very much like to meet this woman for a chat. Those things make up for all the flaws that the other reviewers infuriating at times:
--Yes, she does seem to take a pointless opportunity to mention how "unusually fit" she is.
-- She complains about the high price of gasoline in America. Obviously she can't see things from a non-American perspective, or she would realise that the price of gas in America is so heavily subsidised that it qualifies the USA as a socialist country. Or maybe that would be too confusing for her to address.
--She doesn't have a nice thing to say about any man in this book, only women. One needs to compensate for her own gender prejudices as she assigns herself a morally superior position on every page. (I read an editorial in The Progressive where she uses the phase "misogynist and racist" about a dozen times, to rebut a welfare policy she didn't agree with; it was her way of avoiding intellectually honest examination of the topic.)
--The sanctimony of her class prejudice gets pretty tiresome, too. In "Nickel & Dimed" she does get snide about anyone who is affluent. She sneers that a successful woman is keeping a chart of her newborn's bowel movements. Gee, my wife did the same thing, do I need to apologize to Barbara for that now? But it is a rhetorical attack--she doesn't just come out and say she thinks it is disgusting, she only implies that. Because if she did stop being so mealy-mouthed, her attack would collapse. So is she advocating a cultural revolution to deny women the freedom to bring up their children in the best way they know how? So is it okay for her to take care of herself physically (by weightlifting and doing those aerobics that keep her so "unusually fit"), but it is not okay for other women to keep their babies fit? She only briefly acknowledges in a throw-away line that this successful woman she despises so much is able to give work to a whole gang of people in her home. Again, too ambiguous a reality for her. She seems more comfortable being on a reductionist crusade, tearing strips of flesh from people who are..well, who aren't her. Here Barbara reveals that she has a bit of growing up to do still.
--The author has an irrational objection to hiring other people to clean for them. If this wealthy woman is so talented she can earn a thousand dollars in the time it would take her to clean her house, then what is the problem with her hiring other people to do it so she can put her time into more productive things? What is the big difference between hiring someone to vacuum your floor, and hiring someone to mow your lawn? Or cook your food in a restaurant? Or prepare your taxes? Or clean your teeth? I can't believe the author is saying that no one should provide a service to anyone else, that we should all do everything for ourselves. But for some reason domestic work is against her rather narrow morals. Maybe she can come up with a list of what employment it is acceptable to her that other people pursue. That should sort us out.
Rating:
Summary: Those with a 6 figure income, read this book!
Review: While I am basically living the life Ms. Ehrenreich describes in Nickel and Dimed I still found the descriptions of life in the periphery of society as being quite depressing. Maybe it is because I only have to support myself and not a family that I didn't quite realize the scope of the "invisible". Ms. Ehrenreich described very well how our supposed "priveleged" society is priveleged for the very few, and it doesn't have to be that way. It's not like the Walton family will starve if they up the starting wage up a buck or promote with vigor or treat their employees as adults and not mis-behaving toddlers. Those that promote capitalism should realize they are doing a diservice to their creed by treating so called "non-skilled workers" as they do. Eventually not being able to feed your family will start to jade those who want a real life, and don't just want to struggle to merely survive. We wonder why the destitue in the middle east turn to terrorism, well we can look right at home and see that any idea that is empowering is better than being [dumped] on, it will happen here rest assured if things are not evened out a bit. This is well illustrated in Nickle and Dimed.
I guess my only contention with the book is chastising those for having a "maid service" etc. I mean these are things people use. For instance if I had a little bit more money there is no question I would get a maid, for I am a slob. I think the main issue is paying them what they are worth, not giving them peanuts and expecting these workers that do the dirty work to like it.
If our country is so concerned with ending terrorism, how bout the terrorism of a minisule pay check and the terror of not knowing if your kid can get adequate care if somethingf horrible happens.
What promises will fringe groups give in the future to those who need promises? And who will do whatever they have to do to try and make a better future? Isn't this the question are business leaders should be asking? We aren't only un-ravelling in the middle east, but eventually the cloud of depression over our ghettos will turn to riots that make the L.A. riots look like a brush fire.
We can stop that anger from turning violent if we wish to forego short term gluttony.
Rating:
Summary: Teaching young adults about the poor?
Review: I teach Humanities, precisely, America Cultures, a class which deals with issues of race, class and gender in the US of A. One would think that the most challenging part of this class might be a discussion of racism, but to my great surprise it is repeatedly issues of CLASS over which students get out their ten-foot-poles.
Reluctant to imagine themselves as part of the working class, some are still claiming paental accomplishments as their own. But many are products of single-parent homes, and so have experienced parental job losses, layoffs, loss of financial resources, living with grand-relatives or friends.These young people do not have a Puritanized, sanitized view of who the folk are who work at MacDonalds, and Wal Mart. But many others do. Many believe the poor deserve their poverty because they are "not motivated", blah. blah, blah etc.
I read this text in a day, so the average student could easily read it in two.
Ms Ehrenreich writes a good story, one that has definitely gotten my students attention. Many tell me they will never view a homeless person in the same way. Even though right now most still have their parents to fall back on, many now realize that they could join that community very easily. This shocking book, given to young folk in the right environment, could engender real compassion for the working poor, the truly invisible, on whose backs we stand, and too often, disdain and ignore.
Rating: 
Summary: Try to get past the hyper-liberal point of view.....
Review: I found this book to be an extremely interesting study of those who work in the service sector. Having been a food server myself, I thought the observations about the perception of management were quite accurate. I grinned to myself multiple times while reading, recognizing my own thoughts about managers.
However, the obviously liberal bent of Ehrenreich's writing was hard to read at times. She seems condescending toward those who work these jobs and yet don't resent those of a higher social class. Overall, I thought the book was well written and well thought out.
Rating:
Summary: Working Hard for the Money Will Exhaust the Reader
Review: You'll be thankful if you are reading this book sitting in a comfortable chair with your legs propped up. You'll be even more thankful if you don't have to work for minimum wage where even relieving yourself can only be done after the boss gives you permission. One has to give Ehrenreich credit for sticking with her premise of getting the best unskilled job she could and living off the salary she was able to make. Her stories of waitressing, cleaning and selling will have your body aching as she describes the havoc these jobs can play on legs, skin and hands. Her graphic description of cleaning strangers' toilets alone would send most people back to their more affluent lives, book contract or no book contract. Nickel and Dimed will leave you making sure you never stiff a waitress again and have you picking up after yourself when you sort through items in a retail store. Ehrenreich was so convincing in her role that even one of her co-workers in Wal-Mart's brings her a sandwich for lunch one day so she will have something nutritious to eat. One can only hope that Ehrenreich took this generous soul out to eat once her experiment was over. Nickel and Dimed is a fast, interesting rendition of the stories behind why just giving welfare moms jobs can't work unless there is also some support system in place for child care and housing. The book will give you a new perspective on the haves and the have nots and will make you wonder what you have to complain about if you are lucky enough to spend your day sitting comfortably behind a desk.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, brilliant, and enlightening
Review: You knew in your heart what Barbara Ehrenreich writes--that the middle and upper classes live off the sweat of the underpaid working poor. But if you really want a sense of what it feels like to live that life...and, perversely, have a good reaad while you're learning, then I highly recommend this book. I would not compare Nickle and Dimed to Black Like Me. It's unfair. And Ehrenreich is self-deprecating on many occasions, which evaporates any self-righteousness. Do read this book, even if the result is simply more compassion for your fellow human being.
Rating:
Summary: laughed out loud
Review: I enjoyed the author's style of writing tremendously. She put herself into employment positions that gave her a bird'-eye view of the minimum wage(and lower)employee. Compassion and humor. One day, the clothes at Wal-mart began to hang themselves up! I loved this!!! Great in-site ,enlightening.
Rating:
Summary: Good points, but poorly written
Review: Barbara Ehrenreich makes good points about the plight of poor Americans, putting up with the indignities of life on the bottom rung. The descriptions of [bad] manual labor jobs, and silly service job (...) were both moving and sadly funny at the same time. However, Ehrenreich seems to go out of her way to insult everyone who is not poor. She also constantly infers that because you or I are middle class (or better) if forces others to be poor. I think Ms. Ehrenreich harbors an (unsaid) dream of socialist utopia.
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