Rating: 
Summary: Like It, Hate It The Problem Is Real
Review: I am amazed at some of the reviews posted here. This book does nothing more then bring to light what life is like working at minimum wage. "Nickel and Dimed" is for our age what Upton Sinclair's book "The Jungle" was for his time. Call her elite, call her aloof, but the fact remains that there is a serious problem in this country, and she makes people aware of it. This book was written from the perspective of an upper-middle class woman, and you have to expect that she is going to see it from that vantage point. I don't think this book was written for a person working at Wal-Mart, or somebody working as a maid in Maine. If upper-middle class people can relate to Barbara because she is like them, I say all the better. These are after all the people best positioned to change this situation; they are the people with enough political clout to get something done. In the final analysis we have to decide as American's if this is the kind of country we want to live in. I personally believe that this isn't what we want for our country. Is this the American dream? Is this the land of opportunity? Didn't we once believe that anybody that was willing to work hard and follow his or her dream could succeed in this country? This book ought to be required reading for every member of congress and for the Rush Limbaugh's of the world that have gotten out of touch with what it means to be at the bottom of the sociological economic food chain. I recommend it highly!
Rating: 
Summary: Same Old, Same Old...
Review: ...tired rhetoric from the left. Worse, the author did only a very cursory effort at "living the life." I'd love to sell the book to get SOMETHING positive out of it but unfortunately I tossed it in a dumpster. That is where it belongs. Other than that, a great snoozer.
Rating:
Summary: Person
Review: Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickled and Dimed attempts to display the difficulties of being a member of the "working poor" in the United States. She begins by stating that she is obviously not the typical member of this group because she is in very good health, well educated (although she will not take advantage of this), Caucasian, and a native English speaker. Ehrenreich claims that she has a multitude of advantages in her favor, however, she should mention that she has no experience being a single adult supporting herself on low-income jobs, she goes in not with the attitude of survival, but rather that of a journalistic vacation into the world in which some must dwell, and she is often hypocritical. At Ehrenreich's first "location" in the Florida Keys, she complains about drug testing and how it is somewhat silly. She dismisses drug and personality testing as unimportant in determining how good an employee may be without much basis. Her polemic against drug testing rests on the claim that only marijuana is tested for and that it is demeaning to have to urinate into a cup. Ehrenreich also complains about the fact that she herself has abused illegal substances and does not even admit that she has done something illegal. For her, drug testing is just another money generating ploy because she suspects "that the demeaning effect of testing may also hold some attraction for employers" (128). Earlier on in the footnote, she says that the benefits of workplace drug testing are unproven although it seems hard to argue that someone who does not engage in substance abuse would be more likely to cause accidents, have health problems, and be less productive than an illicit drug user. However, she does present a valid criticism of the inconvenience of drug testing and it would be preferable if there were a centralized drug-tester or a national standard for testing that would prevent low-wage earners from having to undergo numerous drug tests in a short amount of time. Ehrenreich seems to pick places that most people's common sense would tell them are not the best for low-income earners: Key West and Portland, Maine, popular tourist destinations, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul region with it's incredibly low vacancy rates. Why does she not go to the "darkest [parts of] Idaho or Louisiana?" (122). Is she afraid that she might just manage to subsist with a low-income job and disprove the point of her entire book? The book serves the purpose of highlighting the difficulties of the working poor in that it is often necessary to work multiple jobs and she talks about the certain national regulations that require special overtime pay. In doing this, she barely mentions that professionals, managers, and other groups are not included in this and she also fails to mention that professionals, managers, and other high-income earners often work 80 to 100 hour work weeks as opposed to her idea of getting by on 40 hours per week. She tries to illicit sympathy for people who abuse drugs, teenage mothers, etc. on the moral basis that they are low-income earners pitted against the evil managerial and conumeristic middle and upper classes. She fails to give any substantial look into the fact that many of her managers, perhaps with the exception of the entrepreneurial owner of the Merry Maid's franchise, earn just a little more than the regular employees or "associates" do. In conclusion, Ehrenreich provides readers with a look at what one might construe to be the failure of welfare reform while leaving us to question why her analysis of the working poor fails to place any blame upon them and places it all on the government and members of the middle and upper classes.
Rating:
Summary: don't shoot the messenger; pay attention to the message!
Review: Excellent literary nonfiction about the reality of trying to live on minimum wage. We ignore the message at the peril of all of us. The criticisms already posted are beside the point; even if the best decisions had been made, could YOU manage to make ends meet on minimum wage ANYWHERE in the U.S.? Small towns offer no panacea; there is a critical lack of affordable housing everywhere in this country. We all pay -- in one way or another -- for this reality of our economic and social system, but these low-wage workers pay for it in day to day frustration and in battered self-esteem, as well as very real deprivation of necessities. Clean, safe housing; healthy food; adequate healthcare -- all of these should be available to all who work in our wealthy, privileged country; working folks shouldn't have to forego one in order to have another, particularly not while others make vast profits from their labors. Ehrenreich shows us the truth of the lives of far too many in the U.S. Well done, Barbara, and thank you for living this experiment.
Rating:
Summary: Just what I expected
Review: Barbara Ehrenreich took on several working class jobs to see how she would fare if she had no money, husband and no relatives to go to for help. She also made her fictional background pretty bleak with regards to work background and education.
Just as I suspected it is nearly impossible to live any sort of life that most of us take for granted. A lot of it was pretty depressing when you think about the real people that live like that every day. Forget having any fun and be prepared to run yourself ragged if you find yourself in their shoes. It's no wonder so many people turn to drugs in that situation. It might be all you could look forward to.
Despite being depressing, it was absolutely facinating. Go ahead and take a ride on the other side and be sure to thank God that you're not in their shoes when you're done.
Rating:
Summary: Nickel and dimed alright
Review: Is it true what they say? That you can live and survive on an hourly wage of $5 to $8? The author set out to prove, or disprove, it by taking three menial jobs for a month each in three different parts of the country. What she finds, and describes in detail, is well worth studying. We not only learn astounding details about these jobs, but come away with a new sense of respect for the millions of our co-citizen who live below the poverty line with very few complaints. This book is a must-read for everyone who engages somebody's services and disregards the humane side of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Anger at Ehrenreich reveals our own financial anxieties
Review: Back in the late 1960's, social critic Ferdinand Lundberg in his book _The Rich and the Super-Rich_ pointed out that wealth is not a function of wages, but rather of owning property that produces a sufficient amount of income to provide for some minimally acceptable standard of living. Your property, unlike an employer, can't fire you, much less exploit, sexually harass, surveil or otherwise humiliate you the way a boss can. By this definition, tens of millions of even "well-paid" Americans with little or no net worth are not that far removed from the plight of the lumpen service workers Ehrenreich profiles in her book. I suspect this uncomfortable awareness in the back of our minds explains why some of the reviews direct anger towards Ehrenreich's audacity in suggesting that we have a structural problem in this country when it comes to wages versus the costs of living. Unless you are already financially independent and flush with savings for medical emergencies, I wouldn't feel too cocky about my security if I were you. By showing how service workers are regimented and disciplined by the "free" market, she contributes to the growing realization that the "abundance" and "affluence" in this country are somehow illusory.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book, but WAY too condescending
Review: My family is not wealthy. In my life I have worked many of the same jobs that the author did (waitressing and wal-mart, to name a few). While I agree with the author's descriptions of the jobs themselves, and some of the conclusions she draws, I was mostly insulted by this book. I was not aware that I was so desperately "poor" and that I was such an object of pity, scorn, ridicule and amazement (as if the fact that I have a college degree, or actually read makes me something of a well-trained circus monkey). Basically, I was so insulted by the author's attitudes toward the people she was working with, that I had to force myself to finish the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Slummin'-on pretending to be a low-wage earner in America
Review: What first interested me about this book was the title. Perhaps the only redeeming quality about the book, the title, led me to believe that she would be writing about the low-wage and labor problems in America. I thought it would be a treatise on how underpaid and overworked Americans are. Instead, Ehrenreich "decides" one day that she will become one of America's low-wage earners. She is able to start off with a budget of $1200, which she uses to establish herself in her new surroundings. The reality of others having $1200 to start off with is absurd. I get the feeling that Ehrenreich believes she is lowering her living and intellectual standards by delving into a world she knows nothing about. In one section she grossly compares waaring her Maids uniform to being black (she is stared at and feels ostracized wherever she goes) and in another, she comments on how difficult it will be for her to get a job because of all the Latinos that scoop them up first. Ehrenreich was underprepared and short-sighted in this assignment. She not only lost credibility as a writer but also lost points as a compassionate person. She wanted to know how people survive on $6 an hour but rarely focused on the people that have lived this way for most of their lives. We know how she survived...
I found the book to be offensive and condescending. How nice that when she tires of being a low-wage earner in America she can return to her padded life with her books and her Ph. D.
Rating:
Summary: how the other half lives
Review: If you liked "Black Like Me" or Studs Terkel's "Working" for their glimpses of reality through another's eyes, (or even if you haven't read them), you'll read this straight through. Ehrenriech's ability to describe her experiment in working 3 months as a low wage earner with a sense of humor, humility, open perspective, and detail make this an enjoyable read even if you don't agree with her conclusions. It is a fast read that gives a thought-provoking glimpse into the world of the laborers who make modern life livable and what they are up against in making a modern living. It will stick with you and change your view on those individuals who serve you every day. I am giving copies to several friends and bosses.
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