Nickel and Dimed: Undercover in Low-wage America (Paperback)

Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

'In a superb book called Nickel and Dimed, soon to be published in Britain, the journalist Barbara Ehrenreich sets off to find work as a cleaner or waitress in various American cities, and to live off her wages. Of the many disturbing aspects of the book, perhaps the most eerie is her experience of disappearing. In her new role, she can no longer find a reflection of herself on TV or radio or in magazines, and even in real life, people literally cannot see her' Decca Aitkenhead, Guardian 'In this brilliant, gripping and extraordinarily timely book, Barbara Ehrenreich expertly peels away the layers of self-denial, self-interest and self-protection that insulate the rich from poor; the served from the servers, the housed from the homeless. This is a book about collective blindness that will change the way you see' Naomi Klein, author of No Logo 'She is now our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism' New York Times

UK Kirkus review

Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty level wages. During a literary lunch with one of her editors, distinguished journalist Barbara Ehrenreich was persuaded to join them and find out how an incredible 30 per cent of the population manage to survive on eight dollars an hour or less (answer: they do two jobs). With a start-up fund of a thousand dollars (more than most of these wage slaves can hope to save in a lifetime) she left her home in Florida and her partner behind her, took the cheapest lodgings she could find and accepted the first job she was offered (waitressing). For the next two years she worked her way around the US, in a succession of dead-end jobs - cleaning, care work, folding clothes at Wal-Mart. She lived, like her colleagues, in trailers and dingy motel rooms (few can afford the deposit and first month's rent on a decent apartment). The world she inhabited was governed by insane, Kafkaesque rules familiar to anyone who's ever held down a casual job - no 'comfort breaks'; no minimum wage for waitresses, because of the tips they (theoretically) receive; humiliating drug tests that exclude the most counter-productive drug of all (alcohol); personality tests designed - in the most transparent fashion - to sort the troublemakers from the team players. Of course, Ehrenreich had a get-out clause which she could invoke at any time, and she resolutely refuses to feel sorry for herself. She also knows that few of her co-workers have that luxury. They are the foot soldiers of the American Dream - understaffed, underpaid and underfed. Determined to remain detached, Ehrenreich still cares. Her reportage is tough and committed. It is also laugh-out-loud funny. A New York Times bestseller, the book carries a typically passionate introduction from Polly Toynbee. Don't buy from Wal-Mart. Buy this book instead. (Kirkus UK)