What do you think?
Rate this book
Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work
Five hundred feet underground, Jeanne Marie Laskas asked a coal miner named Smitty, “Do you think it’s weird that people know so little about you?” He replied, “I don’t think people know too much about the way the whole damn country works.”
Hidden America intends to fix that. Like John McPhee and Susan Orlean, Laskas dives deep into her subjects and emerges with character-driven narratives that are gripping, funny, and revelatory. In Hidden America, the stories are about the people who make our lives run every day—and yet we barely think of them.
Laskas spent weeks in an Ohio coal mine and on an Alaskan oil rig; in a Maine migrant labor camp, a Texas beef ranch, the air traffic control tower at New York’s LaGuardia Airport,
a California landfill, an Arizona gun shop, the cab of a long-haul truck in Iowa, and the stadium of the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleaders. Cheerleaders? Yes. They, too, are hidden America, and you will be amazed by what Laskas tells you about them: hidden no longer.
Hidden America intends to fix that. Like John McPhee and Susan Orlean, Laskas dives deep into her subjects and emerges with character-driven narratives that are gripping, funny, and revelatory. In Hidden America, the stories are about the people who make our lives run every day—and yet we barely think of them.
Laskas spent weeks in an Ohio coal mine and on an Alaskan oil rig; in a Maine migrant labor camp, a Texas beef ranch, the air traffic control tower at New York’s LaGuardia Airport,
a California landfill, an Arizona gun shop, the cab of a long-haul truck in Iowa, and the stadium of the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleaders. Cheerleaders? Yes. They, too, are hidden America, and you will be amazed by what Laskas tells you about them: hidden no longer.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2012
77 people are currently reading
2359 people want to read
About the author
Jeanne Marie Laskas
18 books139 followersJeanne Marie Laskas is an American writer and professor.
From 1994 until 2008 she was a regular, syndicated columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, where her "Significant Others" essays appeared weekly. She has written feature stories for GQ, where she is a correspondent. Formerly a Contributing Editor at Esquire, her stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Best American Sportswriting. She also is the voice behind "Ask Laskas" in Reader's Digest and writes the "My Life as a Mom" column for Ladies' Home Journal.
A professor in the creative writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, she lives in Scenery Hill, Pennsylvania.
From 1994 until 2008 she was a regular, syndicated columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, where her "Significant Others" essays appeared weekly. She has written feature stories for GQ, where she is a correspondent. Formerly a Contributing Editor at Esquire, her stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Best American Sportswriting. She also is the voice behind "Ask Laskas" in Reader's Digest and writes the "My Life as a Mom" column for Ladies' Home Journal.
A professor in the creative writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, she lives in Scenery Hill, Pennsylvania.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 301 reviews
September 7, 2012
I'm grateful to have received an early reader's copy of this book, and glad to have read it. The book collects a set of essays -- really, profiles of people in specific lines of work -- previously published in GQ magazine, with one from Smithsonian and two new chapters. Despite the author's (editor's?) efforts to fit the pieces under a single theme - the jobs we rely on but don't know anything about -- they read as pieces with separate origins. They take different approaches to their material, and choose their subjects differently. The chapter on the coal miners works as a discussion of working people doing an important but invisible job, but it's one of the few that does. The chapter on Sputter, the black woman long-distance trucker, is a fine essay, but is absolutely not about an ordinary working person in an invisible job; it's about how we bear solitude and grief and yet also reach out to form new friendships and community, and is a classic personal essay rather than a run at sociological analysis. Packaging these essays as a single exercise increases the chance that a reader misses the point and quality of several of them - it took me several days after finishing the book to understand what I'd actually read.
One recurring frustration: the author writes as an upper middle class, coastal liberal for a similar audience. It's not that she's patronizing - she works hard to avoid presenting her subjects as quaint -- but virtually every chapter includes a moment, or a series of moments, where she says something from a parochial perspective and her subjects look at her as though she's just arrived from another planet and they have to patiently explain how life actually works. That gimmick gets old. It's also beside the point: what makes these essays stick is not the portrayal of subcultures, but the glimpses of discrete individuals coping with brokenness and human limits in down-to-earth and humanizing ways. In that light, the best and most moving of the chapters is the one about a team of roughnecks on a frozen oil rig six miles off Alaska's North Slope, and especially their tool-pusher TooDogs.
One recurring frustration: the author writes as an upper middle class, coastal liberal for a similar audience. It's not that she's patronizing - she works hard to avoid presenting her subjects as quaint -- but virtually every chapter includes a moment, or a series of moments, where she says something from a parochial perspective and her subjects look at her as though she's just arrived from another planet and they have to patiently explain how life actually works. That gimmick gets old. It's also beside the point: what makes these essays stick is not the portrayal of subcultures, but the glimpses of discrete individuals coping with brokenness and human limits in down-to-earth and humanizing ways. In that light, the best and most moving of the chapters is the one about a team of roughnecks on a frozen oil rig six miles off Alaska's North Slope, and especially their tool-pusher TooDogs.
August 31, 2012
Have you ever wondered where your trash goes when the trucks haul it away? Or how it is that your electrical outlets are powered? What has to happen in order for you to enjoy that juicy steak? How does your local Wal-Mart keep its shelves so fully stocked? Those mysteries and more are revealed in Hidden America. The author seeks to describe and humanize several processes that people take for granted in everyday life, and she does a remarkable job. Laskas doesn’t just explain the process, she introduces us to the people involved in making them happen, which lends much more weight and human interest to the essays. By the end of each chapter, the reader is invited to genuinely care about these people whose work is so important to keep this country running. Just like you don’t really think about how your brain is making your heart beat or your lungs breathe or that paper cut heal, the average person does not frequently consider these essential processes. Personally, I expected to be depressed by coming to know about the dangerous and unpleasant circumstances in which some people are forced to work in order to make my life easier. However, it seems that almost all of these people actually like their jobs! It made me surprised and almost hopeful. The book ends on a particularly encouraging note, with the most seemingly disheartening thing of all: a landfill. Hidden America is an important book for any responsible citizen to read, and it’s an enjoyable experience as well.
March 8, 2017
If people, mainly of the online community, still wonder who on earth voted for Trump, well, this book may shed some light on this matter. As one of the earlier comments suggest, these people are not only 'hidden', but largely 'disconnected' from the general perception of US society. Although Jeanne Marie Laskas didn't attempt to dig out the underlying reason of it, this book offers an unusual and intimate glimpse into the indispensable yet neglected cells that keep this monstrous country running. A compilation of magazine article-style stories, this book is both informing and amusing. (Thanks to Laskas' extraordinary and highly recognisable storytelling style.) It'll take less than a couple of hours to complete the entire book.
March 23, 2022
Wonderful book about hard-working Americans and the jobs they do week-in-and-week-out. It's what we called in journalism school, "immersive" reporting, where the author rides with, works with, spends days with the subject. Jeanne is a fantastic writer. Very enjoyable and informative.
October 25, 2023
There is so much about our everyday lives that we not only take for granted, but also rarely (or never?) even think about. How do the blueberries for your morning oatmeal get into your bowl? How does your cross-country flight take off and land safely? And what happens to your trash after it's hauled away?
Author Jeanne Marie Laskas takes us behind the scenes, profiling various "hidden" jobs that make our lives easier, safer, and tastier. The best part of the book is the connections Laskas makes with the people who work these jobs, transforming an invisible occupation into one that breathes, lives, and has a family. It's an inside-out look at America.
Nine "hidden worlds" are profiled, including these seven:
• Go deep underground in the Hopedale coal mine in Cadiz, Ohio where you'll find out what it's really like to mine coal that will be used for electricity. Oh, and be prepared to laugh. These coalminers have a fabulous sense of humor.
• Join migrants—some with documentation, some without—who harvest wild blueberries in August in Maine. Find out what their lives are like, why they don't trust anyone, and where they will go next. If it weren't for these hard workers, we wouldn't have apples, oranges, peaches, or blueberries because they would just fall off the trees and bushes and rot.
• NFL players may make a bajillion dollars a year, but the cheerleaders barely make gas money and gameday expenses. Spend some time with several Ben-Gals, cheerleaders for the Cincinnati Bengals, to find out why they are so passionate about cheering.
• Take a visit to the air traffic control tower, arguably the heart of LaGuardia Airport in New York. Find out what it's like to manage a screenful of planes and keep your cool. Bonus: Meet the man who was on duty the day Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger ditched his U.S. Airways Airbus in the Hudson River with no loss of life.
• Bundle up and travel to "The Slope," a manmade island on the shores of Alaska's North Slope where the Trans-Alaska Pipeline begins. The men who work here (and they are all men) are drilling for oil while living far from civilization with temperatures well below zero in near total darkness in winter. Find out why they love it so much.
• Hop in the cab of a long-distance trucker and go for a ride on I-80 from Cleveland, Ohio to Walcott, Iowa. This trucker doesn't fit the stereotype. She is a 35-year-old black woman who once kept herself awake at 3 a.m. by driving topless up I-71. Bonus: She kept the other (male) truckers awake, too! Oh, the stories she has to tell.
• Ever wonder what happens to all those paper plates, plastic bags, egg cartons, half-eaten hamburgers, and last week's leftovers? Take a visit to Puente Hills Landfill near Los Angeles. You won't believe what happens to your trash!
Best of all, the writing is superb. Laskas has a knack for asking the right questions and giving us the answers in language that is so readable and interesting, you'll forget this is nonfiction. Even though the book was published in 2012, it is still relevant and remarkable today and, most of all, spellbinding. I highly recommend it.
Author Jeanne Marie Laskas takes us behind the scenes, profiling various "hidden" jobs that make our lives easier, safer, and tastier. The best part of the book is the connections Laskas makes with the people who work these jobs, transforming an invisible occupation into one that breathes, lives, and has a family. It's an inside-out look at America.
Nine "hidden worlds" are profiled, including these seven:
• Go deep underground in the Hopedale coal mine in Cadiz, Ohio where you'll find out what it's really like to mine coal that will be used for electricity. Oh, and be prepared to laugh. These coalminers have a fabulous sense of humor.
• Join migrants—some with documentation, some without—who harvest wild blueberries in August in Maine. Find out what their lives are like, why they don't trust anyone, and where they will go next. If it weren't for these hard workers, we wouldn't have apples, oranges, peaches, or blueberries because they would just fall off the trees and bushes and rot.
• NFL players may make a bajillion dollars a year, but the cheerleaders barely make gas money and gameday expenses. Spend some time with several Ben-Gals, cheerleaders for the Cincinnati Bengals, to find out why they are so passionate about cheering.
• Take a visit to the air traffic control tower, arguably the heart of LaGuardia Airport in New York. Find out what it's like to manage a screenful of planes and keep your cool. Bonus: Meet the man who was on duty the day Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger ditched his U.S. Airways Airbus in the Hudson River with no loss of life.
• Bundle up and travel to "The Slope," a manmade island on the shores of Alaska's North Slope where the Trans-Alaska Pipeline begins. The men who work here (and they are all men) are drilling for oil while living far from civilization with temperatures well below zero in near total darkness in winter. Find out why they love it so much.
• Hop in the cab of a long-distance trucker and go for a ride on I-80 from Cleveland, Ohio to Walcott, Iowa. This trucker doesn't fit the stereotype. She is a 35-year-old black woman who once kept herself awake at 3 a.m. by driving topless up I-71. Bonus: She kept the other (male) truckers awake, too! Oh, the stories she has to tell.
• Ever wonder what happens to all those paper plates, plastic bags, egg cartons, half-eaten hamburgers, and last week's leftovers? Take a visit to Puente Hills Landfill near Los Angeles. You won't believe what happens to your trash!
Best of all, the writing is superb. Laskas has a knack for asking the right questions and giving us the answers in language that is so readable and interesting, you'll forget this is nonfiction. Even though the book was published in 2012, it is still relevant and remarkable today and, most of all, spellbinding. I highly recommend it.
July 13, 2016
I always wanted to read Working* by Studs Terkel, but the size intimidated me (I was a busy teen when it was popular, after all). This shorter book might whet my appetite for that, and that might be worth reading even though it's old enough to be 'history' now.
*I see he actually has quite a few books; I'll investigate.
---------------
So, anyway, back to Laskas' book, now that I'm finally done. What I wanna say first is, wow. Exceeded my expectations. Highly recommended.
Best read a chapter at a time, because, although there are many commonalities between the people, there are differences, too, and you don't want to misunderstand what the career culture differences are between being a coal-miner, say, and a landfill machine operator. (For one, the former drink a lot more, at least at the respective sites Laskas focused on.)
The inclusion of the chapter on gun ownership was, in many ways, the most interesting and the most brave, because Laskas, from Pittsburgh, had no idea at first how *not* "hidden" gun culture is away from the urban East.
In general, Laskas gets big points from me for truly getting in deep, and also doing background research. She did a great job of getting a lot of different people to talk to her, take her places, let her try things. It probably helped that she's old enough to be a mom to many of her subjects, and she's not all foxy or dainty.
Now, it's not a perfect book. Laskas is a journalist, and knows how to edit and spin. Though everything she said and implied seemed *T*rue and straight-up, surely other migrant workers, or long-distance truckers, or cheerleaders could say that they don't agree with her book, don't think she spoke authentically of their experience. I wouldn't know. But enough of the text seems important enough that I feel I learned a lot.
I also enjoyed it. I felt that, for the most part, Laskas really does appreciate the folks she spent time with. She seems to have made a serious effort to avoiding committing the anthropological fallacy... she knows, and makes it clear that, these are our neighbors, our sisters, ourselves. And getting to know them is like getting to know new friends.
Wise new friends. "O, just think about it," Joe says. "What is a sewage treatment plant? It's an apology to nature for putting too many people in one place."
-------
I still want to read Working, though.
*I see he actually has quite a few books; I'll investigate.
---------------
So, anyway, back to Laskas' book, now that I'm finally done. What I wanna say first is, wow. Exceeded my expectations. Highly recommended.
Best read a chapter at a time, because, although there are many commonalities between the people, there are differences, too, and you don't want to misunderstand what the career culture differences are between being a coal-miner, say, and a landfill machine operator. (For one, the former drink a lot more, at least at the respective sites Laskas focused on.)
The inclusion of the chapter on gun ownership was, in many ways, the most interesting and the most brave, because Laskas, from Pittsburgh, had no idea at first how *not* "hidden" gun culture is away from the urban East.
In general, Laskas gets big points from me for truly getting in deep, and also doing background research. She did a great job of getting a lot of different people to talk to her, take her places, let her try things. It probably helped that she's old enough to be a mom to many of her subjects, and she's not all foxy or dainty.
Now, it's not a perfect book. Laskas is a journalist, and knows how to edit and spin. Though everything she said and implied seemed *T*rue and straight-up, surely other migrant workers, or long-distance truckers, or cheerleaders could say that they don't agree with her book, don't think she spoke authentically of their experience. I wouldn't know. But enough of the text seems important enough that I feel I learned a lot.
I also enjoyed it. I felt that, for the most part, Laskas really does appreciate the folks she spent time with. She seems to have made a serious effort to avoiding committing the anthropological fallacy... she knows, and makes it clear that, these are our neighbors, our sisters, ourselves. And getting to know them is like getting to know new friends.
Wise new friends. "O, just think about it," Joe says. "What is a sewage treatment plant? It's an apology to nature for putting too many people in one place."
-------
I still want to read Working, though.
December 22, 2017
This book is about people conscientiously doing physically hard jobs that keep America running. A lot of people with physically easy jobs -- ahem, former library employees -- should read this book to help them straighten up their attitudes.
September 16, 2012
There are a lot of unsung heroes in this country. These are the people that if they stopped doing their job, we would notice and quickly! These people don't get a lot of the glory. They're not people whose names we all know. Yet they are a integral part of our society.
Laskas states in the beginning of the book that this book is not meant to be political but it veers in that direction a little bit, depending on the topic and person being discussed. This book is at its best when the people who do all of these different jobs (coal miner, truck driver, fruit picker, etc.) and its at its worse when it veers into the political zone or the fluffy zone.
There is a chapter that is basically a diatribe on gun ownership under the guise of talking about those that work in sports shops selling guns. While this book is not always neutral, it is still a good picture of some of the jobs that have to get done in this country. What I do know is that you could not pay me to be a coal miner. This girl would faint if I had to go in those teeny, tiny passageways (oh claustrophobia, you slay me!).
There is another chapter that deals with a woman who is a construction worker but also a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader. The chapter focuses way more on the cheerleading aspect and some of the other cheerleading stories. This chapter was very fluffy and almost a little condescending. On the other hand, I found myself wondering why this chapter was even in the book as it seemed to deal with a job that isn't really useful.
There are also really good stories in here. The coal miners really stand out to me. Here are some people who really risk their life (even the flash from a camera down in the mines could set off a massive explosion) but who go and do their job everyday. Then there are the fruit pickers. Fruit picking is a job that not a lot of Americans will do. It's hard and tedious work. There are whole groups of people that follow different fruit harvests throughout the country in order to have a job. It's really amazing.
Laskas goes in search of these people to learn about their lives and why they do what they do everyday. The majority of the stories (the gun sellers and cheerleaders just didn't do it for me) that make up this book are all interesting. These people don't get a lot of glory but they really keep this country moving. It was nice to get a little more insight into their lives!
Bottom line: a great non-fiction read!
Laskas states in the beginning of the book that this book is not meant to be political but it veers in that direction a little bit, depending on the topic and person being discussed. This book is at its best when the people who do all of these different jobs (coal miner, truck driver, fruit picker, etc.) and its at its worse when it veers into the political zone or the fluffy zone.
There is a chapter that is basically a diatribe on gun ownership under the guise of talking about those that work in sports shops selling guns. While this book is not always neutral, it is still a good picture of some of the jobs that have to get done in this country. What I do know is that you could not pay me to be a coal miner. This girl would faint if I had to go in those teeny, tiny passageways (oh claustrophobia, you slay me!).
There is another chapter that deals with a woman who is a construction worker but also a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader. The chapter focuses way more on the cheerleading aspect and some of the other cheerleading stories. This chapter was very fluffy and almost a little condescending. On the other hand, I found myself wondering why this chapter was even in the book as it seemed to deal with a job that isn't really useful.
There are also really good stories in here. The coal miners really stand out to me. Here are some people who really risk their life (even the flash from a camera down in the mines could set off a massive explosion) but who go and do their job everyday. Then there are the fruit pickers. Fruit picking is a job that not a lot of Americans will do. It's hard and tedious work. There are whole groups of people that follow different fruit harvests throughout the country in order to have a job. It's really amazing.
Laskas goes in search of these people to learn about their lives and why they do what they do everyday. The majority of the stories (the gun sellers and cheerleaders just didn't do it for me) that make up this book are all interesting. These people don't get a lot of glory but they really keep this country moving. It was nice to get a little more insight into their lives!
Bottom line: a great non-fiction read!
September 6, 2012
How do air-traffic controllers remember what instructions they’ve given each flight? How do cattle ranchers produce a signature steak? Who picks the blueberries sold stacked in neat cartons at the grocery store? “We don’t pal around with them on our college campuses and they are not invited to be pundits on TV,” journalist Jeanne Marie Laskas writes in Hidden America. Laskas sets out to uncover the men and women whose largely unseen work animates ordinary life. It’s a noble premise pursued with gusto. But for a veteran reporter, Laskas at times displays a strange naiveté about the workings of the world. Making inquiries at a gun store in Arizona, she’s surprised the store’s patrons are vocal supporters of the right to bear arms (“I hadn’t come to Yuma to discuss the Second Amendment, but it kept coming up”). At one point she muses that “it is difficult to understand why so many beautiful young women would eagerly and longingly” choose to be professional cheerleaders. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, in her telling, exists because of “lawbreakers and people in countries without regulations” rather than the simple over-consumption of law-abiding Americans. Nevertheless, the candor and charm of her wide-eyed approach has a way of opening up her subjects. She meets a philosophizing coal miner trying to be a better father and heartbroken 30-something woman truck driver wondering if she’ll ever have a family of her own. “Sometimes I just think my give-a-shit spring is about to bust,” an Alaska oil-rig operator confides. Hearing their voices, it’s impossible not to see the world a little differently.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...
May 5, 2025
This book was fascinating! The author spent time with "unseen" workers of various kinds--coal miners, oil-platform drillers, truck drivers, Bengals cheerleaders (!), landfill workers, --a lot of people we rarely think about. She really treated most of these people very sympathetically, trying to keep politics and other things out and the simple stories of the workers and their lives IN. (The only chapter this did not work so well was when she visited gun-store owners and employees in Arizona. At times this chapter sounds like someone describing an exotic zoo.)
July 23, 2013
Appreciate the folks you may not know who make the life Americans lead, even if you work in one of the industries profiled in this book. Fans of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs or Studs Terkel's essays on labor will find much to enjoy in this book. Others will find much to ponder. Good read for religious leaders before Labor Day; much to explore in it about work, life, what we pay attention to and what we ignore, and the inherent worth and dignity of every person for small groups.
July 18, 2017
Really interesting book- but I wish it had offered up some thoughts and conclusions, maybe tied things together somehow. I felt the individual stories just ended abruptly.
November 12, 2015
Review to follow!
April 3, 2021
This book was enjoyable on two fronts. The journey through America’s hidden industries - from coal mining to cheerleaders and landfill workers - was fascinating, full of insight into small details and their place in the bigger picture. But it really shone with the amazing portraits Laskas developed - reporting that goes and talks to “real people” can often be a touch patronising and voyeuristic. This was neither, and just told compelling human stories about fascinating characters.
May 26, 2022
Eye-opening. Humanizing. Excellent.
A glimpse into the lives of the people who are such integral members of our American society, yet those who we think the least about.
Laskas is a very gifted storyteller and journalist. I am thankful for her curiosity and commitment to present the unbiased reality to her readers. Her genuine care and interest for the people she spends time with is evident.
A glimpse into the lives of the people who are such integral members of our American society, yet those who we think the least about.
Laskas is a very gifted storyteller and journalist. I am thankful for her curiosity and commitment to present the unbiased reality to her readers. Her genuine care and interest for the people she spends time with is evident.
July 6, 2022
An excellent book bringing to light the inner working of industries that have such a profound effect on my daily life yet I have not given much thought to. The author is a gifted storyteller who has a beautiful way of describing the individuals she engaged with. Such an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading her other books.
November 17, 2023
This book was fascinating, it dove into the lives of many different people who live largely unnoticed but important lives within America. Each one provided a perspective I hadn't heard before and each one is also short enough to feel very high value with no filler fluff.
July 22, 2024
Meh - a lot of description of not interesting things. I'd much rather have had some details about each line of work included instead of days in the life with excruciating detail about unexciting events. Read it for my book club meeting.
July 30, 2024
This far exceeded my expectations. Learning about both these unique industries and professions in detail, as well as the lives of those in them, was pretty eye opening. Makes you realize how truly necessary a lot of these jobs are.
April 26, 2025
I enjoyed this. A bit hit or miss- the cheerleader chapter felt out of place and I don’t know why there wasn’t one on caretakers? But overall, learned some things, was very surprised by the landfill!
June 17, 2021
3.5 stars for an easy read with some standout essays. Didn’t love the us vs. them narrative, but did love the character profiles.
January 8, 2025
Eye opening. Humanizing. Excellent. Real journalism.
February 9, 2023
4.5 rating Laskas sure knows how to develop character-driven narratives. She gives us unique and personal perspectives of real people working real jobs that are mostly “hidden” from society (e.g., coal miner, migrant worker, truck driver, air traffic controller, etc.). I got engaged with each of her storylines snd characters (TooDog! Sputter!), thoroughly enjoying this engaging and eye-opening book.
November 1, 2022
Cool inside look at some of Americas hidden, yet fuel driving jobs that keep the country running. The coal mines, landfill, and artic oil rigs were interesting from a human psyche perspective and the farm laborers was cool as well.
May 9, 2025
A good selection of jobs and depth of conversations . Coal Miners , Cincinnati Ben-gals cheerleaders, Air Traffic Controllers. More interesting than I expected. listening to this at work as part of rotation.
Source Libby Audiobook.
Source Libby Audiobook.
February 23, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyed this book - especially the chapter on the Puente Hills Landfill right here off the 605 Freeway! Written in 2012, if you want a non-politicized look at predictors of today's national landscape, this is it. Well, maybe not completely non-politicized, but toned way down compared to current rhetoric. The author acknowledges that she comes from a progressive standpoint, but works hard to present a well-rounded picture of her subjects (oil rig workers, coal miners, professional cheerleaders, truckers etc.). You can tell she really comes to care for them. Empathy is appreciated these days.
November 22, 2013
3.5 stars.
Hidden America reads almost like short stories - they are loosely tied together with the theme of "unseen people who make this country work." With the exception of the Bengals cheerleading chapter, this is mostly the case. I wish Laskas had dove more into the WHY - why are these people unseen? She briefly touches on the disconnect, but never delves farther into the subject.
And this book plainly illustrates that very disconnect -- I was surprised by many of the details in the stories. I think others (and our students, should we choose this for our university's common reading program) would benefit from hearing about the very things we take for granted (where our garbage goes, how we fly and arrive at our destinations safely, the dangers involved in mining coal or extracting oil - and how we use those resources daily).
Some quotes I liked:
"I spent months trying to position myself and my world around these people - people who seem stuck in a bygone era that isn't bygone at all. If anyone is gone, it's us, the consumer. We forgot, or we lost touch, or we grew up with our lives already sanitized. We live over here and they live over there, and we have almost no access to a way of life that we are so unwittingly dependent on... How is it that our own neighbors are the stuff of anthropology? If that says anything about us, it's definitely not flattering."
"Washington County, occupying the far eastern tip of [Maine], is where the majority of the blueberry barrens are located, and it has 12.2 percent unemployment, the highest in the state. And yet, the money does not draw the local unemployed into the fields - an inexplicable dimension to the new American dream repeated nationwide. Raking is hard, backbreaking, and the sun is hot. Just a generation ago, the harvest was a community effort. A ritual that brought all the locals to the barrens. The blueberries were ripe! They had to be picked! There was so little time! You could make decent cash, help your farmer friends, have a good time gossiping with your neighbors, and shame the teenagers caught kissing behind the birch trees. Afterward you'd celebrate a successful harvest in town at the blueberry festival, compete for best jam, pie, candle or soap. The locals no longer do the raking, but the blueberry festivals still happen all over Maine, and the townspeople still celebrate, and the tourists still come."
Hidden America reads almost like short stories - they are loosely tied together with the theme of "unseen people who make this country work." With the exception of the Bengals cheerleading chapter, this is mostly the case. I wish Laskas had dove more into the WHY - why are these people unseen? She briefly touches on the disconnect, but never delves farther into the subject.
And this book plainly illustrates that very disconnect -- I was surprised by many of the details in the stories. I think others (and our students, should we choose this for our university's common reading program) would benefit from hearing about the very things we take for granted (where our garbage goes, how we fly and arrive at our destinations safely, the dangers involved in mining coal or extracting oil - and how we use those resources daily).
Some quotes I liked:
"I spent months trying to position myself and my world around these people - people who seem stuck in a bygone era that isn't bygone at all. If anyone is gone, it's us, the consumer. We forgot, or we lost touch, or we grew up with our lives already sanitized. We live over here and they live over there, and we have almost no access to a way of life that we are so unwittingly dependent on... How is it that our own neighbors are the stuff of anthropology? If that says anything about us, it's definitely not flattering."
"Washington County, occupying the far eastern tip of [Maine], is where the majority of the blueberry barrens are located, and it has 12.2 percent unemployment, the highest in the state. And yet, the money does not draw the local unemployed into the fields - an inexplicable dimension to the new American dream repeated nationwide. Raking is hard, backbreaking, and the sun is hot. Just a generation ago, the harvest was a community effort. A ritual that brought all the locals to the barrens. The blueberries were ripe! They had to be picked! There was so little time! You could make decent cash, help your farmer friends, have a good time gossiping with your neighbors, and shame the teenagers caught kissing behind the birch trees. Afterward you'd celebrate a successful harvest in town at the blueberry festival, compete for best jam, pie, candle or soap. The locals no longer do the raking, but the blueberry festivals still happen all over Maine, and the townspeople still celebrate, and the tourists still come."
October 2, 2012
In Jeanne Marie Laskas book Hidden America; she strives to bring to light those workers we rely for everyday functions, such as turning on a light or throwing away trash. Often, this sort of book is more of an expose of an industry. The terrible working conditions in the coal mine are emphasized. It leads to an investigation. The coal mine is then shut down and everyone cheers. Another way to look at that story is that a lot of people are out of work. Those workers are the focus of Laskas’s book Hidden America.
With a focus on jobs that directly affect everyone, but no one sees, Laskas brings out a fresh new perspective. Coal workers, blueberry pickers, cattle ranches, cheerleaders, air traffic controllers, and more are interviewed in this book. She doesn’t just interview them, but she genuinely cares about the people she speaks with and really brings out their character. Her work is a combination of Mary Roach and Barbara Ehrenreich. She doesn’t come from a judgmental perspective, but really inhabits what it feels like. Sometimes it takes her too far, like continuing to go into the coal mine even though she has all the information she needs. Furthermore, she ends up purchasing two guns at an Arizona gun shop. (In an interesting contrast, she thinks she has purchased a gun a child could use when in Arizona, but when she returns to Pennsylvania, all she can think about is that she has a GUN in her purse.) She details this emotion exquisitely. She really understands why someone would work in a coal mine or want to buy a gun.
Even though many of the topics were fascinating, such as the coal mines or the gun shop, some of the areas she covered were not all that interesting. She could have gone deeper on some of the topics and one would wonder if she chose some areas based on convenience and access. Overall, it’s a fascinating look at how the people we rely on everyday but certainly take for granted.
With a focus on jobs that directly affect everyone, but no one sees, Laskas brings out a fresh new perspective. Coal workers, blueberry pickers, cattle ranches, cheerleaders, air traffic controllers, and more are interviewed in this book. She doesn’t just interview them, but she genuinely cares about the people she speaks with and really brings out their character. Her work is a combination of Mary Roach and Barbara Ehrenreich. She doesn’t come from a judgmental perspective, but really inhabits what it feels like. Sometimes it takes her too far, like continuing to go into the coal mine even though she has all the information she needs. Furthermore, she ends up purchasing two guns at an Arizona gun shop. (In an interesting contrast, she thinks she has purchased a gun a child could use when in Arizona, but when she returns to Pennsylvania, all she can think about is that she has a GUN in her purse.) She details this emotion exquisitely. She really understands why someone would work in a coal mine or want to buy a gun.
Even though many of the topics were fascinating, such as the coal mines or the gun shop, some of the areas she covered were not all that interesting. She could have gone deeper on some of the topics and one would wonder if she chose some areas based on convenience and access. Overall, it’s a fascinating look at how the people we rely on everyday but certainly take for granted.
March 3, 2021
"Hidden America" provides a glimpse into the hidden world of industries and people that most members of society don't give any thought to such as coal mining, long haul trucking, air traffic controllers, migrant workers, football cheerleaders, oil drilling, beef ranching, gun shop owners, and landfill workers.
This book is divided into ten chapters and with the exception of the introduction, each chapter focuses the experience the author has with someone in an unknown industry. As the author, Jeanne Marie Laskas, travels the country and learns more about how each industry works, she is amazed and intrigued by the amount of pride each person has in their work as well as their profession as a whole.
The first chapter "Introduction" provides a rationale behind the creation of this book as a way to shed a light on those unknown people who provide electricity, picks our fruits and vegetables and provide oil among other things. As time has progressed, most of society and people in general have become oblivious to how products are made, where they products come from, and what happens when we are finished with our products.
The second chapter "Underworld" has Laskas shadowing a crew of coal miners in Cadiz, Ohio. Through her time with the miners, she discovers how big an impact coal has on the world as well as how coal mining is not only a physically demanding job but also a psychologically demanding job considering how deep and dark coal mine shafts can get as well as being in underground confined space for long periods of time.
The third chapter "Hehco en America" focuses on a father and his two teenage twin sons as they wait for the blueberry season to start so they can work in the fields of Cherryfield, Maine. This story brings into focus the hardships faced by undocumented and documented migrant workers including no access to medical care, a high level of distrust in others, and even when migrant workers pay into social security, they are unable to collect because they have fake IDs.
The fourth chapter "G-L-O-R-Y" gives a glimpse into the world of the Cincinnati, Ohio Bengals Ben-Gals football cheerleading squad. Although some people may view cheerleading as a glamourous job, the reality is far from the truth. During Laskas' time with the cheerleaders, she finds that the pay is low and the commitment level is high especially in reference to rules on weight, practice attendance and fraternizing with the football players.
The fifth chapter "Traffic" takes the reader inside the world of the airline traffic controllers at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York. I found this chapter particularly interesting because of the process involved in how air traffic controllers hand off airplanes from one controller to the next until the plane reaches its final destination.
The sixth chapter "Gun 'R' Us" has Laskas traveling to Yuma, Arizona to work behind the desk of a gun superstore and learn about what motivates people to purchase firearms. This chapter is interesting because the Laskas is clear on her views about guns and through this chapter, she works hard to separate her personal feelings about guns in the interest of presenting a objective view of those who are firearm sellers as well as provide insight in the mindset of gun enthusiasts. While Laskas initially doesn't understand the appeal of owning a gun, after spending time with a gun store owner and his employees, she develops a love of guns and even purchases two firearms of her own.
The seventh chapter "Beef" Throckmorton, Texas presents the story of a cattle breeder and delves into the big business of selling animal bodies as well as their genetic makeup. As a vegan, this chapter was the hardest to read due to the process written of how cows are forcefully impregnated (usually a mature cow births one calf a year but through embryo transfer, a mature cow births twenty-fives calves a year,) how livestock are genetically modified to grow specific cuts of meat inside their bodies and as well as the concept of cloning a bull continue to create powerful and perfect livestock.
The eighth chapter "The Rig" occurs at Oooguruk Island, off the shores of Alaska's North Slope and finds the author being paired with a Oil Rig driller on a man made island of ice. Laskas doesn't understand how the men on the rig could be comfortable working in the middle of nowhere but eventually she realizes that working on the rig for months at a time provides the men with no just money but also salvation, redemption, and in some cases, a last chance in life.
The ninth chapter "Sputter" follows a black female long-haul truck driver in Walcott, Iowa and finds Laskas using this trip as a way to deal with the recent death of both her parents. This was my favorite chapter of the book because of Sputter's determination to achieve her goal to learn how to drive a truck since she was a little girl as well as how she became a long-haul truck driver. Through the time that Laskas spends with Sputter, Laskas sees how much the country depends on long-haul trucking to delivers parts and food to feed as well as how hard that job can be on the body as well a personal relationships.
The tenth and final chapter "This is Paradise" City of Industry, California has Laskas observing sanitation workers at the Puente Hills Landfill. As Laskas meets the different employees, she is surprised that mostly everyone working expresses having a love of nature despite working at a landfill. The purpose of is the make the trash disappear by making it look pretty and not only is the landfill pretty, it is purposeful in that the gas from the trash creates electricity to power homes and repurposed water is used to fertilize nearby fruit fields. The most interesting parts of this chapter was reading about the history of modern garbage disposal as well as the riff between the Dirt workers (who run scavenger and push dirt) and the Rubbish workers (who crush the garbage.)
This was a fascinating book makes you realize how interconnected we all are in this world. This book does a good job of trying to reconnect the creators to the consumers although for some, ignorance is bliss and they will choose to remain ignorant to the processes they can't see while enjoying the end result.
I admire Laskas author for presenting each of her book subjects in a straightforward and unbiased manner. By humanizing each of her subjects throughout each chapter but the end of the book, readers can't help but respect the members of hidden American and their commitment to hard work on a daily basis to provide the mass with the food, products, and services they enjoy.
This book is divided into ten chapters and with the exception of the introduction, each chapter focuses the experience the author has with someone in an unknown industry. As the author, Jeanne Marie Laskas, travels the country and learns more about how each industry works, she is amazed and intrigued by the amount of pride each person has in their work as well as their profession as a whole.
The first chapter "Introduction" provides a rationale behind the creation of this book as a way to shed a light on those unknown people who provide electricity, picks our fruits and vegetables and provide oil among other things. As time has progressed, most of society and people in general have become oblivious to how products are made, where they products come from, and what happens when we are finished with our products.
The second chapter "Underworld" has Laskas shadowing a crew of coal miners in Cadiz, Ohio. Through her time with the miners, she discovers how big an impact coal has on the world as well as how coal mining is not only a physically demanding job but also a psychologically demanding job considering how deep and dark coal mine shafts can get as well as being in underground confined space for long periods of time.
The third chapter "Hehco en America" focuses on a father and his two teenage twin sons as they wait for the blueberry season to start so they can work in the fields of Cherryfield, Maine. This story brings into focus the hardships faced by undocumented and documented migrant workers including no access to medical care, a high level of distrust in others, and even when migrant workers pay into social security, they are unable to collect because they have fake IDs.
The fourth chapter "G-L-O-R-Y" gives a glimpse into the world of the Cincinnati, Ohio Bengals Ben-Gals football cheerleading squad. Although some people may view cheerleading as a glamourous job, the reality is far from the truth. During Laskas' time with the cheerleaders, she finds that the pay is low and the commitment level is high especially in reference to rules on weight, practice attendance and fraternizing with the football players.
The fifth chapter "Traffic" takes the reader inside the world of the airline traffic controllers at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York. I found this chapter particularly interesting because of the process involved in how air traffic controllers hand off airplanes from one controller to the next until the plane reaches its final destination.
The sixth chapter "Gun 'R' Us" has Laskas traveling to Yuma, Arizona to work behind the desk of a gun superstore and learn about what motivates people to purchase firearms. This chapter is interesting because the Laskas is clear on her views about guns and through this chapter, she works hard to separate her personal feelings about guns in the interest of presenting a objective view of those who are firearm sellers as well as provide insight in the mindset of gun enthusiasts. While Laskas initially doesn't understand the appeal of owning a gun, after spending time with a gun store owner and his employees, she develops a love of guns and even purchases two firearms of her own.
The seventh chapter "Beef" Throckmorton, Texas presents the story of a cattle breeder and delves into the big business of selling animal bodies as well as their genetic makeup. As a vegan, this chapter was the hardest to read due to the process written of how cows are forcefully impregnated (usually a mature cow births one calf a year but through embryo transfer, a mature cow births twenty-fives calves a year,) how livestock are genetically modified to grow specific cuts of meat inside their bodies and as well as the concept of cloning a bull continue to create powerful and perfect livestock.
The eighth chapter "The Rig" occurs at Oooguruk Island, off the shores of Alaska's North Slope and finds the author being paired with a Oil Rig driller on a man made island of ice. Laskas doesn't understand how the men on the rig could be comfortable working in the middle of nowhere but eventually she realizes that working on the rig for months at a time provides the men with no just money but also salvation, redemption, and in some cases, a last chance in life.
The ninth chapter "Sputter" follows a black female long-haul truck driver in Walcott, Iowa and finds Laskas using this trip as a way to deal with the recent death of both her parents. This was my favorite chapter of the book because of Sputter's determination to achieve her goal to learn how to drive a truck since she was a little girl as well as how she became a long-haul truck driver. Through the time that Laskas spends with Sputter, Laskas sees how much the country depends on long-haul trucking to delivers parts and food to feed as well as how hard that job can be on the body as well a personal relationships.
The tenth and final chapter "This is Paradise" City of Industry, California has Laskas observing sanitation workers at the Puente Hills Landfill. As Laskas meets the different employees, she is surprised that mostly everyone working expresses having a love of nature despite working at a landfill. The purpose of is the make the trash disappear by making it look pretty and not only is the landfill pretty, it is purposeful in that the gas from the trash creates electricity to power homes and repurposed water is used to fertilize nearby fruit fields. The most interesting parts of this chapter was reading about the history of modern garbage disposal as well as the riff between the Dirt workers (who run scavenger and push dirt) and the Rubbish workers (who crush the garbage.)
This was a fascinating book makes you realize how interconnected we all are in this world. This book does a good job of trying to reconnect the creators to the consumers although for some, ignorance is bliss and they will choose to remain ignorant to the processes they can't see while enjoying the end result.
I admire Laskas author for presenting each of her book subjects in a straightforward and unbiased manner. By humanizing each of her subjects throughout each chapter but the end of the book, readers can't help but respect the members of hidden American and their commitment to hard work on a daily basis to provide the mass with the food, products, and services they enjoy.
December 17, 2012
In "Hidden America" the author spends time with some of the people who keep the cars running, the lights on, the goods moved and food on the table but who most of us never think about. She goes underground with coal miners, onto North Slope oil rigs with the men who drill for oil, rides the Midwest with a woman who drives an 18-wheeler. Laskas even spends time with the Ben-gals, cheerleaders for the Bengals. (It was my least favorite chapter because I'm not convinced football makes America work. But that's beside the point.)
Laskas does this for only one reason--she isn't trying to score points, political or otherwise. She's not trying to be politically correct. She merely wants those of us who benefit from the work of these people to see who they are, what they do and, maybe even, why they do it.
It's not that she doesn't make personal comments--she does. She talks about how surprised she was by her reaction to firing weapons when she went to Arizona to interview a man who owned a gun store. She talks about how guilty she felt about her contribution to the waste disposal issues cities face when she spent time with people who managed the landfill near LA.
But personal comments aside, she doesn't present the people she interviews and hangs out with as problems to be solved. She presents them as they see themselves, and she does it well. The book is fascinating, the people she interviewed interesting and the story of what makes the country work worth telling.
Laskas does this for only one reason--she isn't trying to score points, political or otherwise. She's not trying to be politically correct. She merely wants those of us who benefit from the work of these people to see who they are, what they do and, maybe even, why they do it.
It's not that she doesn't make personal comments--she does. She talks about how surprised she was by her reaction to firing weapons when she went to Arizona to interview a man who owned a gun store. She talks about how guilty she felt about her contribution to the waste disposal issues cities face when she spent time with people who managed the landfill near LA.
But personal comments aside, she doesn't present the people she interviews and hangs out with as problems to be solved. She presents them as they see themselves, and she does it well. The book is fascinating, the people she interviewed interesting and the story of what makes the country work worth telling.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 301 reviews