Nickel and Dimed discussion

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is a non- fiction book about Barbara’s experience on living a low class life in the United States. She lives in many different states and works at a series of different jobs, all with a salary of $6 or $7. Barbara realizes how difficult the life of many Americans is and that after working extremely hard on a job people have to live in horrible conditions.

Nickel and Dimed is a terrible book and I would not recommend it to anyone. When I first began to read the book I thought it would be very informing about economy and struggles, but the book was more about Barbara’s life and things that had nothing to do with living off of a low salary. For example Barbara was more shocked that people she knew didn’t recognize her as a waitress than the prices of many things such as housing. This book wasn’t very eye opening because instead of learning about the people who work in low paying jobs, you learn mostly about the author. When the author writes, "It's so difficult to believe that these people don't realize I'm actually educated and upper class," it seemed very selfish and stuck-up.

The concept of Nickel and Dimed, getting by in America on a low paying job, was creative, but the book doesn’t inform you much about actually getting by. It was poorly written and researched. The author should have figured out more information before embarking on the journey to write this book and been more engaged while she was working those few low paying jobs.

I do not see how she could have been more informative about the impossibility of getting by on minimum wage in this country than by illustrating her own difficulties and the conditions in which she (and others) had to live. B is very honest about her comparative advantages -- the fact that she can afford to leave a situation that doesn't support her, for example. She writes a great deal about her co-workers and how hard they work at the jobs (which she actually does herself; how could her research be more thorough?) I thought her compassionate rather than stuck-up and disagree about her writing, which was ironic yet humorous. I certainly recommend the book, because more Americans need to learn about how unfair these situations are: that the people who do the most unpleasant, hardest work get paid the least in this society is just plain wrong, and BE does a great job of exposing this very serious social problem.

Natalie wrote: "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is a non- fiction book about Barbara’s experience on living a low class life in the United States. She lives in many different..."


Oh I so agree...if they had half a star I would have given that instead. It is rare that I dislike a book to such extremes but you hit the arrogant self content nail right on the money so to speak (pun intended).

I am sorry that some of you disliked this book. Or just possibly you did not get it.
1. This was not nor was it intended or designed to be research
2. It could not have been other than personal,

Is the problem that she was not poor enough to have an opinion?
Maybe you did not , as she did listen to the problems of the people with whom she worked?
Maybe you were disappointed that she was not victimized by violent crime?

This was a taste, and just a taste of the ways we as a society make, or allow being poor needlessly hard to escape.

Phrodrick wrote: "I am sorry that some of you disliked this book. Or just possibly you did not get it.
1. This was not nor was it intended or designed to be research
2. It could not have been other than personal,

..."

I don't get these criticisms either. Yes, she was not stuck in this way of life, she chose to research how living this way is nearly impossible. For that (and her good writing) she deserves respect and appreciation. I would like to see some of her critics do any of this.

Natalie wrote: "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is a non- fiction book about Barbara’s experience on living a low class life in the United States. She lives in many different..."

Funny how perspectives differ-I didn't take that she was being arrogant about her education, I felt it was more they were so entrenched in their own misery- that they would never get out of the hamster wheel of hard work and little hope they were stuck on- to see that an educated person was trying to learn about their lives in an effort to share it. It was because she was 'educated' she was in a position to do so. This was their chance to put their story on a public platform. Of course, maybe she didn't understand the fear of being found out as the telltale. Similar to the book 'The Help'. By speaking out people have a lot to lose.

D wrote: "Natalie wrote: "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is a non- fiction book about Barbara’s experience on living a low class life in the United States. She lives i..."

Nicely said.
Thanks

Wow, I haven't thought about this book since reading it all the way back in 2010, and this thread just pops into my feed, lol.

I enjoyed the book. Despite the author's obvious advantages, I think the book itself offers a bleak and realistic glimpse at the hardships of the american middle class that not many folks really understand, nor realize. It was an eye-opener for me, anyway.

Natalie wrote: "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich is a non- fiction book about Barbara’s experience on living a low class life in the United States. She lives in many different..."

Re-reading your post, I have to wonder if you actually read the book. You might also consider that simply saying "this is a terrible book" says nothing at all except that you did not like it. What is so important about your likes and dislikes? Especially when I don't see a comparative analysis with a book that has like ambitions anywhere in this, let alone your own research on what living on minimum wage is like.

I think the fact that she could stop at anytime may be offset by her complete location changes periodically. It would have been easier to stay in one place to see how you get by when funds are so low, but she wanted to see different places, so did not.

It is informative in that we don’t usually think about “weekly” rent and how expensive it must be when you don’t have first/last months to put down. Otherwise she might have just been really strapped instead of homeless every 3rd week.