This is my second copy of this book that I have registered so obviously,i think it deserves a wider audience.The author decided to join the working poor and see if it was possible to survive on six to seven dollars an hour so the book follows her experiences as a cleaner, waitress and Walmart employee etc. Although,as the author readily acknowledges, she always had the luxury of being able to go back to her regular life, her experiences and insights offer an interesting and eye-opening glimpse into something that is everywhere and we all play our part in - poverty.I don't know how we can start to elininate it or even if it is possible but the least we can do is acknowledge it and the people who are bravely trying to get out from under.

RELEASE NOTES:

Will pass on at our meet up today.

Have heard quite a bit about this book and I'm looking forward to reading it despite the slightly disturbing topic! Thanks lilB.

A very interesting read. It does make you think about a lot when you read it. A complete side bar to the book was the eating habits of people who are working 2 minimum wage jobs. When you have no time or energy left at the end of the day fast food does seem like logical option for many.....scary when they can squeek by on their salary until something goes wrong. After which it seems to be a downhill spiral.
I think that this should be required reading for everyone in school. Maybe it would be a step towards breaking down some of the stereotyping that goes on with "the poor".

I have guessed that the gap between the rich and the poor in the US may be very wide. Is there anything I can do for these poor people?? I can't think of it at once, but anyway, this book gave me a chance to know more about the hard life of underpaid workers.

Saw this on a wish list so am sending this on as a RABCK.There was a documentary on the working poor in Japan on TV last Sunday - a timely reminder that these kinds of problems are not just confined to the US.

Thanks so much! I have been wanting to read this for awhile and actually picked up a copy of it on my visit home. I had TOO many books so it is actually in a box being sent M-bag to me! I am so happy that I can read this NOW and then pass it on to friends. Thanks so much!

From the back cover:
"Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them, inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on six to seven dollars an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the "lowliest" occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity - a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor."

An excellent book that needs to be read by more.

RELEASE NOTES:

I thought this book was o.k. and fairly interesting until I got to the evaluation at the end and was devastated by how deep and thorough it was.
This is the kind of book that makes you want to change the world but at the same time feel helpless to the task.
I'm in Fukuoka City, Japan and I burrowed this book from The Rainbow Plaza (a resource center for foreigners).