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astraldylan's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.25
The book is good for giving insights to middle and upper class people, but it still a book about the poor experience written by someone who isn’t poor.
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
The Evaluation chapter in my opinion is where the meat of the story is; the 'anthropological' experiences were a little thin I thought. The tone is self-deprecating, sometimes tipping into condescension (acknowledged) or smug and sneery. Her approach to 'being poor' felt a little misguided at times, and to her credit, she does mention as a single woman, without attachments or physical impediments, she is at an advantage than many of the working poor. As a snapshot of 1998=early 2000 America, maybe it is accurate within certain contexts, but I don't think the book has aged well with the times.
trin's review against another edition
5.0
A powerful and truly important book. (Not to mention inspirational: what I read here knocked around in my brain and came out an original short story.) Ehrenreich brings to light a lot of important truths about poverty in America, tackling them with honesty and even humor. The book depicts events that took place between 1998 and 2000, and was first published in 2001, but I think it remains incredibly relevant. It will also leave you spitting-angry, but I think that’s even more reason to read it.
sweetcaroline76's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
jarredshere's review against another edition
3.0
A bit dated but still a good perspective for those who aren't starting from 0
nickedkins's review against another edition
5.0
This is a useful book for showing just how vapid some of the arguments against a social safety net are. That low-paying jobs are easy, that assistance that is available on paper is available in practice, that class mobility is a matter of work ethic, or that poverty reveals a flawed character, are notions that don't survive contact with reality.
I've seen lots of reviews saying this book is insulting because Ehrenreich had family and wealth to return to if her experiment didn't work out. They say that she doesn't truly understand what it's like to be poor, so she has nothing to offer. I think this criticism is unfair. Ehrenreich says many times that her experience is easier than her co-workers'. She relates conversations and testimony from genuinely poor people. And in her evaluation of the experiment she concludes that the working class are under-compensated and under-valued by society. If she'd concluded that that life is not so hard, and that thrift and diligence could get you through, I'd agree with the critics, but she doesn't, so it's hard to imagine that these reviewers were reading the same book as me.
I've seen lots of reviews saying this book is insulting because Ehrenreich had family and wealth to return to if her experiment didn't work out. They say that she doesn't truly understand what it's like to be poor, so she has nothing to offer. I think this criticism is unfair. Ehrenreich says many times that her experience is easier than her co-workers'. She relates conversations and testimony from genuinely poor people. And in her evaluation of the experiment she concludes that the working class are under-compensated and under-valued by society. If she'd concluded that that life is not so hard, and that thrift and diligence could get you through, I'd agree with the critics, but she doesn't, so it's hard to imagine that these reviewers were reading the same book as me.