Will Work for Food or $: A Memoir from the Roadside

by Bruce Moody

When Bruce Moody was almost 60, he got fired. After a lifetime of writing and working contract jobs in-between, he found himself in a dire situation. Unable to find work as he always had before, he faced homelessness. He panicked, fell into a well of horror and shame. In desperation, Moody made a simple sign and began a life on the side of the road. With neither self-pity nor pride, Bruce Moody shares his life on the roadside, the unexpected elation he feels at his contact with others, the joy he gets by being out of doors, and the surprising generosity he experiences. In recreated diary fashion Will Work for Food or $ reads like a novel, complete with dialogue, character development, and plot. We meet the people he meets and learn some surprising things about asking, giving, receiving. Will Work for Food or $ offers a timely reminder that the smartest and the strongest don't always win, but winning (and money) might not be the most important thing. Some of Bruce Moody's rules for himself while on the Ask for work every time you can get the words out.
Take all work offered.
Don't ask what they're paying beforehand.
Run it like a business, record responses and earnings in a journal.
Never leave early.
Never look at money as you take it.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography

Hardcover

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will Work for Food: A Memoir from the Roadside by Bruce Moody (Red Wheel
Inc. 2003)(Biography)(3595).

This is the memoir of a sixty-year-old man who suddenly became unemployed and without means to support himself. He had lived from paycheck-to-paycheck before he lost his job, so his meager savings were quickly drained. However, he apparently never considered seeking another job. For some unexplained reason, the author thought it would be a good idea to become a roadside panhandler of the type that sits at the interstate exits with a sign. His experiences in this vein are the crux of this tale.

Author Bruce Moody never reveals why he became unemployed or why he deemed himself unemployable. That was disappointing, for the only reason I continued reading was to find out why he never sought a steady job.

Moody was never homeless; he managed to pay rent for an apartment.

This story is wordy and pretentious. The author is plenty self-absorbed, but he is not self-aware.

Here’s a quote that perfectly encapsulates the book, the author, and the author’s outlook: To Bruce Moody, some donations are more appreciated than others. Moody describes the sheer tedium of sitting beside a road for hours every day at the same stoplight, seeking eye contact with every driver, awaiting the next donation. He describes an encounter with a child’s gift in this fashion:

“A woman stops down the line and lets her daughter hand me a quarter. ‘It’s her lunch money,” she boasts disgracefully.” (p.100).

Whaaaat?

“...she boasts disgracefully.”(??)

Okay…

Gift horse, meet mouth. This is wrong. In many ways.

When the book ends, the author is still broke and jobless.

My rating: 7/10 finished 12/12/21(3595).

[Holly Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yawwwwnnnnn. I forced myself to finish the book. Everyone has a story...& this was his during this time. Nice reminder that not everyone on the street is a drunk or drug user. Not exactly a page turner though.

[Karen Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes when I see people begging on the street and they don't look "desperate," I wonder what their story is. Although not a page turner, this book proved interesting and insightful. I'm glad to hear the logic behind the begging. It strengthens my resolve to give freely.

[Christopher Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of the book was very intriguing. However I was left thinking that much more could have been accomplished with the subject matter. I also felt like it was a slow read, you know the kind where you feel like you've been reading for awhile and then you notice you've only made it through a couple of pages. I didn't hate the book by any means, but I also didn't love it. I found myself while reading the book thinking that this guy really isn't the person I would put as the face of the roadside population.

[Ellison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sixty-year-old man gets fired (unknown why) and is unable to come up with temp work. So, the next obvious option is...street hustler! he stands out on a busy highway intersection with a cardboard sign in an effort to cull enough fund$ for charitable drivers to pa his rent, and eats some food that is offered, other food he rejects as he has sensitive taste buds and can only eat certain products. He considers spirituality and rejects it. He argues with others who dare aspire to take over his 'spot'. Swearing.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a few years ago and enjoyed the book for the most part. Moody loses his job in his late fifties and resorts to panhandling by the side of the road in San Francisco. Unfortunately, the subject matter is probably more timely today.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A personal memoir about a man down on his luck, who turns to panhandling for food and money to make ends meets. He owns a car and pays for rent and gas and once for acting lessons with the money he earns. It's a perspective most of us have never considered let alone experienced.

[Rosie · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book had many good reviews and I wanted to like it..it put me in mind of the book "Nickel and Dimed" But I just couldnt follow it.
It jumped around and was just very disorganized. I had to go back and reread something in order understand it

didnt finish it

[Missa · Rating 1 out of 5]

A few heart warming moments of human generosity scattered amidst a long boring journal of fragmented thoughts that are hard to follow. I was constantly irritated by the author's racial stereotypes as he interacted with others.

[Carrie LeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. I'll never look at a roadside panhandler in the same way.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, pompous rant

[Lenny Husen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.0, rounding up because the other reviews of this book are so ridiculously and unjustly negative that I want to balance them out, and also because I met the author Bruce Moody and found him to be an intelligent, charming, and well-spoken man. He did NOT ask me to read his book.
I actually really liked this book and found it to be a very good memoir of someone desperate and destitute, who approached his 5-month stint of being a Roadside Panhandler with dignity. He took it on as a job and a serious undertaking.
While he had made some poor choices and it was obvious that his life was harder than it had to be because of his self-absorption and stubbornness, Moody's determination and commitment to survival was laudable.
I found this an uplifting and sincere memoir.
It could have been improved by some editing but overall the writing was clear and style interesting.
Also, the ending was a happy and satisfying one, and he DID find a job and DID get back on his feet.

[Rachel Risinger]

Nothing will make you appreciate that not so great job in that not so great office with those not so interesting tasks than reading a well written and thought provoking memoir of someone who possesses none of the above. One expects this to be a tale of moral terpitude and eventual redemption from the demons that brought Mr. Moody to this sad state of affairs. One would be disappointed.

Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed this book, it was ultimately readable and I am a better person for the experience, it's just that this was pretty far out of my comfort zone and one of the first books I tracked down after hearing about it on NPR. (Which is no worse off for having sh*t-canned Juan Williams, in my humble opinion.)

[Rogue Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

An out-of-work salesman finds in himself a talent for earning at the roadside. Scheduled, disciplined and determined, he refuses work that will pay less than he can earn by asking for a handout. New insight into the lives of those who stand at the traffic lights, with dogs and signs.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honest self-reflection...we need more of that.

[Mindie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inspiring, but boring in parts. Skimmed through a lot of it.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very eye opening book about the guys you see that hold the signs.