Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee

by Alex Frankel

Curious to know just what happens behind the "employees only" doors of big companies, journalist Alex Frankel embarked on an undercover reporting project to find out how some of America's well-known companies win the hearts and minds of their retail and service employees. Frankel knew the only way to find answers was to go native. During a two-year urban adventure through the world of commerce, Frankel applied for and was hired by a half-dozen he proudly wore the brown uniform of the UPS driver, folded endless stacks of T-shirts at Gap, brewed espressos for the hordes at Starbucks, interviewed (but failed to get hired) at Whole Foods, enrolled in management training at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and sold iPods at the Apple Store. At the heart of Punching In lies Frankel's quest to find out how some of the giants of commerce turn thousands of average job applicants into loyal—even fanatical—workers. How do they identify and recruit workers who will best fit their companies? How do they indoctrinate employees into their corporate cultures and make them perfect messengers of their brands? Along the way Frankel pauses long enough to wonder why he is so often immune to corporate attempts to win employees over. In this lively and entertaining narrative, Frankel takes readers on a personal journey into the land of front-line employees to discover why some workers are so eager to drink the corporate Kool-Aid and which companies know how to serve it up best.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Memoir, Sociology

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 20, 2007

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Not quite up to par with NICKEL AND DIMED by Barbara Ehrenreich, but I'm such a sucker for reading any "insiders" side of various business and jobs that even though parts of this were mundane (Gap sales associate sounded horrible--folding, folding, folding, all day long), I still found it interesting. I especially liked the UPS section, and I had read "HOW STARBUCKS SAVED MY LIFE" by Michael Gill so I knew a little about working in a Starbucks, but Frankel's viewpoint of the corporate side was interesting.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite Frankel's affection for UPS, this book doesn't quite deliver (heh) on the promise of its concept. It's not quite funny, not quite illuminating, not quite an expose of a seamy underbelly. Being a customer service face for a big company is pretty much as I'd expect it would be: monotonous, dehumanizing, alienating. The best parts of the book were the specific day-in-the-life descriptions of the specific individuals working at these places, and the various ways these companies attempt to inject them with the corporate culture. Also the application and interview process deserves a book in itself -- the "work styles questionnaires" they use to screen applicants are all kinds of spooky. A quick and mostly diverting read, but not a very enlightening one.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I had my doubts when 1) I found it at the dollar store and 2) the only book that I really wanted to read was the second Hunger Games book, but this was the only one I had at the moment. And somewhere I had read or heard, or maybe I made it up, that this was written in an effort to refute what Barbara Ehrenreich wrote in 'Nickel and Dimed.' Her book was about how it was absolutely impossible to live on a lot of the wages that are paid in this country (yep, Wal-mart, I'm lookin' at you.) But this was nothing of the sort.

This awesome author decided to take 'front-line' jobs at a bunch of major companies, such as Enterprise Rent A Car, Starbucks, and Gap and analyze the cultures of the company. I felt so bad for him when I read the chapter about working at the Gap. I used to work at Old Navy, which is owned by Gap. It was excruciating. I nearly died every day because my main job was just to walk around behind customers and fold things that they had carelessly unfolded. Seriously, some people would just stand at a table of t-shirts and unfold half a dozen and then move on. They weren't holding them up to see if they were the right size. They were not looking for a particular color. They were just buttheads. Anyway, oh man that was the most boring job ever. So I kind of laughed when the author talked about how boring his job was at Gap.

I was glad that he did not say that all the companies were awesome and trained their employees well and were exceptional in the way that they treated employees. That is probably why it was an 'unauthorized' adventure. I also liked that he did not bemoan the low wages. That would have changed the focus of the book from 'company cultures' to 'whiney employee bio'.

Also, the author was easy on the eyes. I kept looking at the back flap of the book jacket just for fun. :)

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing seemed very groundbreaking in this book. The author spent some time (how much, he never really explains) working on the front lines of retail jobs like Starbucks, the Gap, and UPS to see what it's like. And it's pretty much exactly as you would expect. The people who work at the Gap on the salesfloor spend a lot of time folding. The drinks at Starbucks are complicated to make. UPS is a complex network of integrated systems ensuring your packages get to where they need to go, with an emphasis on the human front-line interaction. The Apple store is staffed by enthusiastic people with technology interests outside of work who feel pressure to sell you accessories. There you go... I wouldn't expect it to be anything different.

Basically the author seems kind of entitled and surprised that the people who work in retail are actually human. I think he may have been laboring under the misapprehension that retail is staffed by robots. He seemed surprised every time work got busy or tough or he had to field complaints. It made him sound entitled. Also, he never really explained how he ended up doing this; it sounds like he started off focusing on UPS and then it blossomed into a major project. For each new job he set us down in the middle of his workday and then worked backwards, then forwards. Very distracting.

The most interesting stuff was about the little behavioral tests a lot of companies stick into their applications, but he didn't go far enough with it as I had hoped. An entire book could be written about that, and, I hope, will.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had many fascinating aspects to it. I found the various ways that companies process applications and perform interviews to be really interesting. There is quite a bit of brainwashing (or attempted brainwashing) going on. Although that's not really a surprise, seeing it documented in such a way made me pause to analyze various job experiences in my own life.

Although I did enjoy this book, I also felt it to be lacking in analysis. I wanted something more. Perhaps part of the reason is that the author had, amazingly, never worked a front-line retail job before. Because of the short amount of time he spent at each job, I'm not sure he had the experience to really make any better conclusions than he did.

And I became grammatically confused by the use of Starbucks/Starbucks'/Starbucks's and Starbuckses (?!?!) in that chapter. Hrm.

[Darshan Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned lots from this book, including creepy weird corporate tricks such as Gap's use of scent to lure or lull customers into consumerism or Enterprise's manipulation of drivers into purchasing insurance that is neither required nor comprehensive. I loved Frankel's discussion of The Container Store's approach to their staff and corporate structure, which was all the more compelling since I purchased a canvas suit/gown contraption for my closet last week after a fanatical wardrobe downsizing. At times the book seemed a bit scattered in its organization, but it was so accessible in its prose and scope that it made me wish it were common reading for youth ages 15-25. It would be fascinating to see this sort of reporting used to document the culture of progressive enterprises such as American Apparel. Do it, Mr. Frankel, tackle that progressive corporate thicket.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little envious that Alex Frankel wrote this book, because it's a great idea. I wish I'd written it. Having once worked for one of the retailers he profiles in this book (plus a few others he didn't), I liked how he captured the front-line perspective of what it means to represent a brand and interact with customers all day long for near-minimum wage. It's not about worker experiences so much as it's about what it means to define your brand through your employees.

Everyone should work on the front lines like this, even if only at least once in their career, because it not only gives you perspective but makes you more compassionate as a customer and as a leader. Alex Frankel takes you there -- minus the scratchy uniforms and mandatory urine testing, of course. I read this book a few years ago and still recommend it to others.

[Sawy-o · Rating 3 out of 5]

My fav parts were the actual description of what goes on behind the scenes at the various jobs the author works- he picks companies I was already curious about because of their mystique. At times the integration of sociological theory and the author's experience is grating, and my employee personality is so different from Alex's that Punching In was sometimes irritating. He only spends a short amount of time at each job, basically the honeymoon/training period, so the conclusions were somewhat doubtful.

[Michal W · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads like really young person talking about his first two-three jobs.

People are described very superficially (X is nice, Y likes to drive fast). As are the organizations - nothing about their culture, values, interactions between co-workers etc. Only basic stuff you can see from the outside just as well. Or stories you'd get from the "new guy" who has no idea what's really happening. No background, no insight, no experience.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another author taking a variety of jobs on a short-term basis (intending to quit after a few weeks) specifically to write about the experience later. Unlike Selling Ben Cheever and others, Frankel concentrates on opportunities for advancement within the organization. Tone varies from cozy to wonky, but overall interesting enough to recommend.

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about a journalist who goes undercover to work on the "front lines" (working directly with customers)at major corporations, like UPS, Starbucks, Gap. etc. What is it like to work at these places today?

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book fascinating and thoroughly enjoyed it. His short descriptions of people were well done. I felt like I was reading something that could have been written by a sociologist, due to his descriptions of the cultures of various companies. What I think really made this book successful was how the author candidly reflected on his own personality traits and what did/did not make him a good fit for various job settings. I felt for him as he struggled through the learning curve of each new job. I was surprised at how much he ended up appreciating UPS. (I am going to recommend it to my friend whose son-in-law works for UPS.) I plan to look for more of his books, as I have a sense that they will be interesting and insightful also. I have one question for other readers - Did anyone else recall Working* by Studs Terkel as they read this? I read that one too long ago to remember much, but the sense of gaining a quick snapshot of the working life of various people is what stuck with me. I felt like we were getting that kind of inside look, and wonder if others would make the same comparison. (*Apologies - I don't know how to underline in this format.)

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Punching-In is a confused book. Not confusing, mind you, merely confused. Author Alex Frankel means well, and presents a number of interesting stories about working the front lines at a number of interesting corporate jobs, but he just doesn't really make the greater points his conclusions would lead you to believe he did.

To start, Frankel seems to consider this book almost an expose about what makes some of the bigger retail corporations in the world tick, but his anecdotal observations don't connect any dots to create a larger picture. Instead, he takes on jobs that many of us have had or thought about having, and tells us what we pretty much assumed about them already--it's tiring to deliver packages all day, it's boring to fold clothes at the Gap, customers order some funky beverages from Starbucks, and people who work at the Apple Store really like Macs.

It's not that it's an uninteresting book, exactly, it just doesn't seem to have a larger point, despite Frankel's largely weak attempts to do so. He often will go off on tangents about the job he's working at, describing the colorful or (more often) rather bland cast of characters he works with, giving his personal feelings on the matters at hand, and from these very personal, isolated experiences (given that he's only experiencing one isolated corporate unit in the Bay area with each company) he applies broad, sweeping generalizations to the corporate culture of a company, while every now and again mixing in fairly weak academic references to somehow support his cause. It's not unlike a high school student writing a book report for a book he barely skimmed, then flipping through the pages to try and find an unrelated quote that would, on the surface, back up his thesis.

Frankel himself seems to half-heartedly acknowledge this disconnect on a few occasions, though not enough to really admit that his points are invalid as a consequence (which they are).

That said, I enjoyed reading it. I didn't love it, but it was interesting, even if it was profoundly flawed. Any book that headlines itself as "The Unauthorized Adventures..." of anything clearly sees itself as little more than a stunt or lark meant to be read for kicks rather than hard-hitting journalism, sort of the way a modern yellow journalism outfit like "A Current Affair" would "infiltrate" a store with hidden cameras to paint an unfair picture of a company as a whole. I found the characterization of his experience at Starbucks especially unfair, as he clearly walked into that job with a set of expectations (namely that Starbucks was a horrible, phony, corporate monolith of capitalism), and, despite an experience that, on the surface, appeared to bear out the opposite, took it as confirmation of his original prejudice. From what I could tell, the Apple store seemed very similar to that experience, both in terms of corporate culture and employees hired, yet he praised Apple's genuine feel(and also pointed out that he has been an avid Mac customer since the 80s) and Starbucks as a bunch of phonies. But Holden Caulfield Frankel is not, and given that his incomplete sketch of the Apple store felt rushed and vague, it was hard to take such opinions too seriously.

In the end, the book is just okay. It doesn't really have much of a point, but is the sort of book one might really get into while reading a chapter in the waiting room of a dentist's office. I guess that's all it really aspires to be anyway, but maybe that's not so bad. I don't know.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a former (and probably future) member of the service sector, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. What types of people are drawn to what types of companies? What types of people are hired by what sort of company? Who succeeds and who burns out? Is each corporation really its own little fiefdom with unique methods of motivation, training, communication and presentation? Or, is there much difference?

The use of the word 'unauthorized' connoted some seamy back room allegations. The wage slave in me was anticipating war stories from each of the companies Frankel was employed with during his experiment as a front line service worker. I wanted to hear about insane customer demands and how they were met (or not). I wondered about the automaton supervisors who live, eat, breathe and bleed for the company and desire that their band of hourly workers will do the same. As usual, in books like this, I wanted 'expose' -- Simon Legree in Dockers and a head set cracking the blood soaked whip over the backs of his (or her) barristas, denim folders and computer sales reps.

What I read instead was actually kind of dull: rather like a typical day at work. Although the jobs Frankel sampled were varied in environment (coffee shop, clothing retailer, car rental office, technology store and delivery service), the story arc was similar in many of the sections. It was the all too familiar cycle of getting hired, attending training, getting thrown out to the front lines before you really know what you are doing and mostly learning on the job. By the time you know what you are doing and get competent, you are so brain dead with the tedium that you jump ship as soon as another opportunity presents itself. Then the cycle begins again.

We really want to dress up work with 'cultures' and make people passionate about renting cars or selling jeans or making coffee for harried office workers. But, I get the feeling that this is mostly wishful thinking; something that the people upstairs occupy themselves with while the workers behind the counter are on autopilot.

One exception to this pattern appears to have been UPS...at least from the author's perspective. In the case of UPS, the fast pace and the feeling of camaraderie amongst the work force struck a genuine note. By the time Frankel left that company (right after the Christmas rush), he was proudly wearing 'brown' and contemplating the idea of sticking around to get a full time position. Probably because the author enjoyed his time at UPS much more than he did at the other companies, he gives his best attention as a narrator to the UPS story. I felt that other sections of the book were given short shrift.

In summary, I was just a bit underwhelmed. It felt like the author had an idea that he could make something dull (front line service work) into something more meaningful or interesting. And then he kind of learned that he could not.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex Frankel is at his strongest when he develops personal anecdotes and stories. His descriptions of his interviews at the jobs where he worked and his efforts to defeat online screening provided the brightest moments in this book. It would have been a perfect book if Frankel could have taken this analysis to the next level and speculated more about the future of business or the deeper question of what drives employees to buy into the corporate culture being promoted by these companies. Instead, at times, Frankel falls back on general research citations and haphazardly inserts references to business school professors and other theoretical writing. Mid-discussion, a sentence falls in that reads, "Harvard business school professor so-and-so says, 'blah blah blah.'" More often than not, the comment isn't analyzed or discussed further – it's just dropped.

By far, the best sections of the book were those dealing with UPS. The section related to the Apple Store had unrealized potential to live up to the standard of the UPS section. Instead, the descriptions of his coworkers fell relatively flat. It seemed almost as though Frankel became afraid to share the details of his experience. Or perhaps he was just rushed at the end. Either way, though Frankel clearly believed that the Apple store had accomplished the corporate-culture promotion goal that Frankel considers the pinnacle of retail success, the details of that accomplishment failed to come through to the reader. Frankel also brings to life the interview at The Container Store with wit and descriptions of the other candidates that actually made me laugh out loud. His ability to laugh at his own errors gives the novel a self-deprecating humor that was much appreciated by this reader.

Overall, this enjoyable book allows readers to peer into the back rooms of familiar stores. I wish that the author had delved more deeply into the larger questions raised by his exploration of corporate culture -- whether development of such corporate culture is actually good for society, whether the government should strive to instill similar types of cultural output in government functionaries, whether such corporate culture is a lasting good, etc. -- but the just the memoir of the experiences provides some insight.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex Frankel took some time off from student life to get a real-life job and see what the attraction might be of working at some major American companies. He managed to get jobs at UPS, Enterprise, Starbucks, The Gap, and at an Apple store. He also filled out applications and interviewed at several other locations, such as the Container Store, and Home Depot. He went “undercover” to ferret out some information on life on the front-lines.

Part of corporate culture is finding people who fit what your corporation is looking for – and most companies have devised ways (tests and interviews) to find the people who will work best for them. Frankel tried to pick the *right* answers on some of the tests he received, but most of the places that had tests like that had refined them to such a point that they were able to weed him out as well. Did they recognize him as a spy?

Some of the places Frankel worked had a definite culture, that was passed down by management and other proponents and staff were expected to act and behave in a certain way and to exemplify company ideals. The whole idea pretty much makes me sick. Making your staff over into some kind of brand/clone of the same perfect person is fundamentally wrong. Or it just rubs me the wrong way.

So, I learned that I never want to work for Starbucks or Enterprise, or the Gap. I’m eager to get inside an Apple store and play with their gadgets, and UPS doesn’t sound *too* bad, because you’re always busy doing something…but it does sound exhausting. I think, like Frankel, I’m someone who appreciates more independence and creativity in what I do, and none of these places have much room for that. I’ve worked retail, and I think everyone *should* have to work in the service industry – if only to truly understand what it’s like. Maybe it would create a more responsible and caring society, because no one likes to be taken for granted, trod upon, or treated like crap.

[Shinichi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What kind of people work at UPS, Starbucks, Gap, or the Apple Store? Alex Frankel finds out for sure as he joins these brand name retail environments in a one year period and chronicles his experiences in Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee. Barbara Ehrenreich did this kind of undercover writing in Nickel and Dimed. While Ehrenreich’s aim was to expose the hardships of low wage jobs that fail to provide living wages, Frankel examines corporate culture and how it shapes the employees who sell the product directly to the customer.

Frankel’s jobs take place in the San Francisco Bay Area, though he flies to New York City to interview for Whole Foods. While more locations nationwide would have made for an interesting read, the ubiquitous nature of the corporations featured in the book is enough.

As he works at the various jobs, Frankel finds that the companies hire different types of people, but there are some common denominators. The employees are joiners on some level and the companies work to create a culture of employee loyalty. Of all the places he works for, Frankel feels the most affinity for UPS. We get to learn what makes “the brown” so sexy along with the workplace subculture. He speaks very well of them, but the same can’t be said for Enterprise Car Rentals (spookily cult-like, bait and switch) or the Gap (mind-numbingly boring). Starbucks (inauthentic) and the Apple Store (true believers) provide the climax and denouement to the McJob narrative. While he’s never really a joiner to begin with, Frankel gains insight to these employees and roles they play in the theatre of retail.

[ateedub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great opening, but the book kind of petered out. Frankel's immersive experiences at UPS and Enterprise were very interesting and certainly instructive. But I wanted more of them, and less of the 'trying to get a job with one of these companies analysis'. And definitely less reflection on the experience outside of the direct narrative. I definitely prefer to draw the (very obvious) conclusions on my own, and not listen to Frankel restate them.

Though presumably not the intention of the book, I now have a much greater respect for UPS and their drivers. Despite their spotty service at my house, and the awkward experience of being asked out in the middle of a crowded office hallway by the UPS guy who delivers to my office, I now really appreciate the company and didn't before (for those reasons). And I realized just this week that the UPS guy at work knows my name, despite having only delivered to me a handful of times over the past 2 years (and having his heart broken by me over a year ago).

Interestingly, I just had a job candidate come through who had spent a year in Enterprise's management training program. He talked about washing cars in his suit and dealing with a number of customer horror stories. (He decided this was not what he wanted to do, thus the interview.) It seems like Frankel's experience was pretty spot on, but it didn't help the candidate get my job.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got an advance reading copy (ARC or ARE to booksellers) of this book through HarperCollin's First Look program, and this is the review I submitted:

In a thoroughly researched adventure through various service-industry front lines, Frankel manages to present the good and bad experiences with a little humor and just enough extra insider tidbits to keep a general audience interested. Supplementing his vivid descriptions of experiences with material from fields such as economics, industrial/organizational psychology, management, and business/marketing strategy, Frankel's work makes for a fulfilling read. I would recommend this book to fans of Barbara Ehrenreich (for the methodology of steeping oneself in the role one is researching) and fans of Paco Underhill (for the little retail secrets we encounter but remain unaware of as consumers).

Overall, a great general read. Anyone with more specialized training or education in psychology or business might wish for more depth or theoretical perspective, but that would lessen its public appeal.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankel goes "undercover" as an employee at several large, customer service oriented firms, and describes what working on the front lines is like for the employees. He travels from UPS to Enterprise, Starbucky, Gap, and Apple. In working for these firms Frankel's goal is to find out how the culture of the company is extrended to the new employee, and specifically how the management of a company, at such a far remove from the front line worker is able to instill its values. The book succeeds as an interesting look at what it is like to work for these companies, but I'm not sure that Frankel achieves his goal. He is also less that objective about all his employers,for example, he did not like Starbucks going into the project and his view of working there confirmed his preexisting opinion.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee by Alex Frankel intrigued me when I read the synopsis so I checked it out from the library.

The author is a journalist and he decided to go "undercover" at various companies to see how they attempt to bring their employees into their corporate cultures. He worked for UPS, The Gap, Apple Store, Starbucks, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and applied for several other jobs.

I liked the way he described the testing, training and on the job life at each company. It brought back memories of my part-time book selling job.

The company that he felt truly made their employees part and parcel of the culture was UPS. BTW, no pun intended on that parcel reference.

Good story, good book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, the author recounts his experiences as an "undercover" front-line employee. Basically, he decided to work in some of America's most well-known and loved corporations to see what life is like for the front-line employee and how that varies from the corporate message. The companies he is able to get jobs for include UPS, the Gap, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Container Store, amongst others. Because these are all companies I am familiar with, it was doubly interesting to me to get an insider's view inside companies I use or shop in on a regular basis. You certainly won't think the same about your UPS driver again after reading this book!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, the only reason I finished this book was because the font was so big and I was done it in a day. It took the author 2 years of working in retail to realize that not everyone who works at Starbucks/UPS/Gap is a corporate zombie. They are real people! Um, yeah. He also somehow thinks that he is "undercover" and spends half the book worried that he might "blow his cover." He comes up with complicated fake backstories and secretly jots down notes while on break. If you have never worked retail, or never considered that there are people who just do a job _because it's a job_ than you might find this interesting.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

You will never look at a UPS delivery driver, Gap salesperson, or Starbucks barista again after reading this insightful book about various service jobs. The author is able to penetrate and observe several corporate cultures in a short amount of time. A nice study of employee/corporation relationships. The book ends oddly because the author has very little to say about his last job (Apple Store), unlike the others, and the narrative just seems to run out quickly. Frankel is likable, however, and he keeps the reader's interest elevated with his humor and keen observations.

[Turi Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I was expecting a little more humor from this book. There wasn't much there, but what WAS there was a well-thought look into some of the biggest "branded" companies in the country. Alex Frankel spent time working for companies such as UPS, Starbucks, Apple and Gap, and looks at their hiring practices, corporate culture, and other facets of their business. Fascinating, and will affect the way I look at front-line employees of these companies.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book---I was hoping for something like "A Working Stiff's Manifesto" which I read a few years ago and loved. This was just really bland case studies of the author working at some different companies. It was like reading a business text book or some really dry magazine articles. I had to wait a long time to get this by ILL and then had a hard time getting myself to read past the first company "undercover" stint.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy, interesting read. The author worked at a number of jobs - UPS driver, Gap salesperson, Apple salesperson, Starbucks barista, Enterprise rent a car trainee - and gives his experiences, along with some talk about culture. Sometimes it's hard to separate his like (Apple) or dislike (gap, Starbucks) from his commentary on it's culture, but it's worth a read just to understand the internals of how companies work.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Punching In is the service industry equivalent of taking a factory tour to see how things are made. I've been a customer of UPS, Starbucks, Gap, and Enterprise, Whole Foods, and Home Depot -- all places where Alex Frankel works or applies to work. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to work for these companies or Apple retail or The Container Store -- or if you've ever shopped -- you'll find something of interest in this book.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this, but it read like a bad student paper from a lower-division marketing class.

I am truly surprised that an actual writer wrote this, because it could have used an editor, or ghost writer, or something.

I was so irritated by the middle of the UPS story that I couldn't continue.

I did like some of the descriptions of San Francisco, to be fair.

[Kameron · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the slant I hoped it would be. It was straight-up journalism, commentary from a privileged upperclass white male, who essentially could get just about any job (he got almost every job he applied for). It was interesting to an extent, but there was little analysis or critical thinking.