economics & employment

The Back Door Guide to Short-Term Job Adventures by Michael Landes

 Originally I was looking for the book Alternatives to the Peace Corps, but my library didn’t have the updated version, so I wound up finding this book instead and was very pleased with it.  The Back Door Guide is over 300 full sized pages filled with up-to-date job opportunities including internships, seasonal jobs, volunteer work, and work abroad.  For each listing there are handy symbols that indicate whether room and board is provided, if there is a fee for the program, if there is a stipend provided, if you need a degree, and if international applicants are welcome.  Then there are a few paragraphs listing the specifics for each job.  The book is divided into sections based on type of work (adventure, bicycle, farm, camps…).  Also, the introduction lists many other resources including further reading suggestions, instructions on how to go about applying for a job, and the application process in general.  The Back Door Guide seems to be a great starting place for those looking for that out of the ordinary experience or job.

Cigarettes: Anatomy of an Industry from Seed to Smoke by Tara Parker-Pope

Cigarettes is a rather slim book (around 200 pages) that tackles a lot of hefty issues about the tobacco industry.  As an ex-smoker and a child of smokers, I was obviously under the lure of the charm of the cigarette.  Now, as a non-smoker, I can’t stand to be around smoking, and cringe when I think about how much money I‘ve wasted on this vice in the past.  Tara Parker-Pope discusses the history of tobacco products, the international and cultural importance of tobacco, the Big Tobacco companies and the marketing of cigarettes, and the health and addiction issues, all in a very readable form accompanied by many informative charts and graphs.  To an extent, this book read almost like a television “news” expose, but with the hard facts needed to support the claims.  

Gig: Americans Talk About their Jobs edited by John Bowe, Melissa Bowe, and Sabin Streeter

 Gig was given to me as a present, and was by far one of the best I’d received in quite some time (thanks, David)!  This massive collection covers many different kinds of jobs, including Wal-Mart greeter, diet center owner, adult webmistress, heavy metal roadie, and gun-store owner.  The editors conducted interviews in order to create endlessly fascinating narratives in which the featured worker is able to talk about any aspect of their jobs that they choose.  Sometimes sad, funny, and often unbelievable, it amazed me what people would say about their jobs and how it reflects on them as a person.  I guess everyone’s gotta find a way to pay the bills! 

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

 I’d read several glowing reviews of Nickel and Dimed, and finally decided to check it out after a friend mentioned it to me.  The premise of Nickel and Dimed is that Barbara Ehrenreich wanted to investigate whether it is possible to support yourself (and possibly children) as a woman coming off welfare (or a divorce) by working minimum wage jobs.  So she goes undercover in three different areas of the US – moving to the area, looking for a furnished apartment, then a job, and trying to hold onto both to see if she will succeed.  While reading this book, it was obvious to me the many mistakes she was making (living in expensive weekly hotels, looking for a furnished apartment, eating fast food at $5 a meal…) and also obvious to see that she wouldn’t succeed, but that is what she set out to do.    I was also a little put off by several generalizations and comments made in the book about the kinds of people who work minimum wage jobs, mostly concerning their lifestyles, intelligence, and personalities.  Unfortunately, Ehrenreich doesn’t offer many suggestions on how to improve the current quality of life for low-wage workers that she witnesses on her quest.  Though it appears that I don’t agree  with much of Nickel and Dimed, I did enjoy reading it and was pleased that Barbara did analyze her mistakes and actions that caused her to “fail” in her experiment.  As a side note, one of the jobs Ehrenreich takes on is my current job, cleaning homes as a Merry Maid, so it was interesting to hear from a professional the many ways I’m being exploited as a worker.

Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do: by Studs Terkel

 I’d read several reviews of Working and once I’d read Gig I decided to finally check out Working.  This monstrous volume is filled with conversations Studs Terkel had with many people about their jobs and lives.  Working was published in the early 1970s, so many of the occupations discussed are of a more traditional nature than those in Gig, being mostly service positions and manual or skilled labor jobs.  Also, Terkel sometimes talks to several people who work together on the same job, and even includes comments of a spouse who may be present during the conversation.  Working employs a very simple, original concept resulting in an accurate view of this thing called work that occupies so much of most people’s time.  I liked to see how some of the jobs discussed have changed over the past 30 years, and yet how most people’s attitudes seem the same.

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