Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
by Studs Terkel
List Price:
Our Price: $8.99
You Save: $7.96 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.04 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Studs TerkelEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-02-28
ISBN: 1565843428
Number of pages: 640
Publisher: New Press
Book Reviews of Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
Book Review: Studs Terkel's Working People
Summary: 4 Stars
As I have done on other occasions when I am reviewing more than one work by an author I am using some of the same comments, where they are pertinent, here as I did in earlier reviews. In this series the first Studs Terkel book reviewed was that of his "The Good War": an Oral History of World War II".
Strangely, as I found out about the recent death of long time pro-working class journalist and general truth-teller "Studs" Terkel I was just beginning to read his "The Good War", about the lives and experiences of, mainly, ordinary people during World War II in America and elsewhere, for review in this space. As with other authors once I get started I tend to like to review several works that are relevant to see where their work goes. In the present case the review of Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day And How They Feel About What They Do serves to reflect on a time a couple of decades ago when people may have been resigned about their working career but had a feeling that it did not express all of what they were. Given today's uncertain economic climate and the wider fears about the effects of the long term trend "globalization" which particularly threatens many lower- skilled or easily transferable jobs I am not sure that such interesting reflections on their work experiences would be forthcoming from today's working population.
Although Terkel has cast a wide net on the range of occupations and types of work that he presents here it is weighted toward blue collar working people: the waitresses, bartenders, service personnel and the like with whom he had such affinity. The most interesting aspect of this effort is that almost universally the work that people do does not reflect on their capacities. In short, the job is not the measure of the person. That said, I believe, intentionally or not, this little treasure trove of interviews is one of the great arguments for socialism: the creation of a society where an energetic waitress or a well-read steelworker, for example, could break out and become a leader of society. A place where every cook can take a turn at governing. That is the real message that these interviewees are trying, unsuccessfully for the most part, to articulate. How to successfully do that, however, is a separate and frustratingly hard politcal and organizational question that I have argues about elsewhere.
One thing that I noticed immediately after reading this book, and as is true of the majority of Terkel's interview books, is that he is not the dominant presence but is a rather light, if intensely interested, interloper in these stories. For better or worse the interviewees get to tell their stories, unchained. In this age of 24/7 media coverage with every half-baked journalist or wannabe interjecting his or her personality into somebody else's story this was, and is, rather refreshing. Of course this journalistic virtue does not mean that Studs did not have control over who got to tell their stories and who didn't to fit his preoccupations and sense of order. He has a point he wants to make and that is that although most "ordinary" people do not make the history books they certainly make history, if not always of their own accord or to their own liking. Again, kudos and adieu Studs.
More Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do reviews:
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Summary of Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
Studs Terkel records the voices of America. Men and women from every walk of life talk to him, telling him of their likes and dislikes, fears, problems, and happinesses on the job. Once again, Terkel has created a rich and unique document that is as simple as conversation, but as subtle and heartfelt as the meaning of our lives.... In the first trade paperback edition of his national bestseller, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel presents "the real American experience" (Chicago Daily News)--"a magnificent book . . .. A work of art. To read it is to hear America talking." (Boston Globe).Labor & Industrial Relations Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Digging the Midwest
Deeper Polka: More Dance Music from the MidwestRelease date: 2002-05-21; Music CD
Best price: $6.89
Price in other shops:
Farmhouse Fiddlers: Music & Dance Traditions in the Rural Midwestby Philip Martin
Face to Face Books; Published: 1994-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
Midwest Living (1-year)Meredith; Meredith; Magazine; Magazine
Best price: $11.97
Price in other shops:
The Adventures of Augie March (Penguin Classics)by Saul Bellow
Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-10-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.91
Price in other shops:
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Doby Studs Terkel
New Press; Published: 1997-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Art in Chicago: Resisting Regionalism, Transforming Modernismby Robert Cozzolino
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Published: 2007-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.40
Price in other shops:
Chicago Architecture and Design 1923-1993: Reconfiguration of an American Metropolisby John Zukowsky
Prestel; Published: 2000-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $73.40
Blues Masters, Vol. 2: Postwar Chicago BluesRelease date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $35.99
Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicagoby Mike Royko
Plume; Published: 1988-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
The Coast of Chicago: Storiesby Stuart Dybek
Picador; Published: 2004-04-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Winning Decisions: Getting It Right the First Timeby J. Edward Russo, Paul J.H. Schoemaker
Broadway Business; Published: 2001-12-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
American Dreams: Lost and Foundby Studs Terkel
New Press; Published: 1999-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Coming of Age: Growing Up in the Twentieth Centuryby Studs Terkel
New Press; Published: 2007-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.07
Price in other shops:
Gig: Americans Talk About Their JobsThree Rivers Press; Published: 2001-08-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
Voices of Our Time: Five Decades of Studs Terkel Interviewsby Studs Terkel
Highbridge Audio; Published: 2005-06-16; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $19.04
Price in other shops:
How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Lifeby Thomas Gilovich
Free Press; Published: 1993-03-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops:
Division Street: Americaby Studs Terkel
New Press; Published: 2006-04-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops:
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Dieby Chip Heath, Dan Heath
Random House; Published: 2007-01-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.48
Price in other shops:
The Good War: An Oral History of World War IIby Studs Terkel
New Press; Published: 1997-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depressionby Studs Terkel
New Press; Published: 2000-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: