1 NICKEL AND DIMED
, 2 NICKEL AND DIMED
Praise for Nickel and Dimed
"A brilliant on-the-job report from the dark side of the boom. No one since H. L.
Mencken has assailed the smug rhetoric of prosperity with such scalpel- like precision and
ferocious wit."
- Mike Davis, author of Ecology of Fear
"Eloquent ... This book illuminates the invisible army that scrubs floors, waits tables, and
straightens the racks at discount stores."
- Sandy Block, USA Today
"Courageous ... Nickel and Dimed is a superb and frightening look into the lives of hard-
working Americans ... policy makers should be forced to read."
- Tamara Straus, San Francisco Chronicle
"I was absolutely knocked out by Barbara Ehrenreich's remarkable odyssey. She has
accomplished what no contemporary writer has even attempted-to be that `nobody' who
barely subsists on her essential labors. Not only is it must reading but it's mesmeric.
Bravo!"
- Studs Terkel, author of Working
"Nickel and Dimed opens a window into the daily lives of the invisible workforce that
fuels the service economy, and endows the men and women who populate it with the
honor that is often lacking on the job. And it forces the reader to realize that all the good-
news talk about welfare reform masks a harsher reality."
- Katherine Newman, The Washington Post
"With grace and wit, Ehrenreich discovers the irony of being `nickel and dimed' during
unprecedented prosperity ... Living wages, she elegantly shows, might erase the shame
that comes from our dependence `on the underpaid labor of others.'"
- Eileen Boris, The Boston Globe
"It is not difficult to endorse Nickel and Dimed as a book that everyone who reads-yes,
everyone - ought to read, for enjoyment, for consciousness-raising and as a call to
action."
- Steve Weinberg, Chicago Tribune
"Unflinching, superb ... Nickel and Dimed is an important book that should be read by
anyone who has been lulled into middle-class complacency."
- Vivien Labaton, Ms.
"Brief but intense ... Nickel and Dimed is an accessible yet relentless look at the lives of
the American underclass."
- David Ulin, Los Angeles Times
, 3 NICKEL AND DIMED
"Unforgettable ... Nickel and Dimed is one of those rare books that will provoke both
outrage and self-reflection. No one who reads this book will be able to resist its power to
make them see the world in a new way."
- Mitchell Duneier, author of Sidewalk
"Observant, opinionated, and always lively ... What makes Nickel and Dimed such an
important book is how viscerally Ehrenreich demonstrates that the method of calculating
the poverty threshold is ludicrously obsolete."
- Laura Miller, Salon.com
"In Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich expertly peals away the layers of selfdenial, self-
interest, and self-protection that separate the rich from the poor, the served from the
servers, the housed from the homeless. This brave and frank book is ultimately a
challenge to create a less divided society."
- Naomi Kein, author of No Logo
"Piercing social criticism backed by first-rate reporting ... Ehrenreich captures not only
the tribulations of finding and performing low-wage work, but the humiliations as well."
- Eric Wieffering, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Barbara Ehrenreich's new book is absolutely riveting- it is terrific storytelling, filled with
fury and delicious humor and stunning moments of the purest empathy with those who
toil beside her."
- Jonathan Kozol, author of Ordinary Resurrections
"Engaging ... Hopefully, Nickel and Dimed will expand public awareness of the real-
world survival struggles that many faced even before the current economic downturn."
- Steve Early, The Nation
"Ehrenreich's account is unforgettable-heart-wrenching, infuriating, funny, smart, and
empowering ... Nickel and Dimed is vintage Ehrenreich and will surely take its place
among the classics of underground reportage."
- Juliet Schor, author of The Overworked American
"Compulsively readable ... Ehrenreich proves, devastatingly, that jobs are not enough;
that the minimum wage is an offensive joke; and that making a salary is not the same
thing as making a living, as making a real fife."
- Alex Ohlin, The Texas Observer
"Ehrenreich writes with clarity, wit, and frankness.... Nickel and Dimed is one of the
most important books to be published this year, a new entry in the tradition of reporting
on poverty that includes George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier and Michael
Harrington's The Other America.... Someone should read this book to George W Bush."
- Chancey Mabe, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
, 4 NICKEL AND DIMED
ALSO BY BARBARA EHRENREICH
Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War
The Snarling Citizen
Kipper's Game
The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed
Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class
The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment
Re- making Love: The Feminization of Sex
(with Elizabeth Hess and Gloria Jacobs)
For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women
(with Deirdre English)
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers
(with Deirdre English)
Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness
(with Deirdre English)
The Mean Season: The Attack on the Welfare State
(with Fred Block, Richard A. Cloward, and Frances Fox Piven)
, 2 NICKEL AND DIMED
Praise for Nickel and Dimed
"A brilliant on-the-job report from the dark side of the boom. No one since H. L.
Mencken has assailed the smug rhetoric of prosperity with such scalpel- like precision and
ferocious wit."
- Mike Davis, author of Ecology of Fear
"Eloquent ... This book illuminates the invisible army that scrubs floors, waits tables, and
straightens the racks at discount stores."
- Sandy Block, USA Today
"Courageous ... Nickel and Dimed is a superb and frightening look into the lives of hard-
working Americans ... policy makers should be forced to read."
- Tamara Straus, San Francisco Chronicle
"I was absolutely knocked out by Barbara Ehrenreich's remarkable odyssey. She has
accomplished what no contemporary writer has even attempted-to be that `nobody' who
barely subsists on her essential labors. Not only is it must reading but it's mesmeric.
Bravo!"
- Studs Terkel, author of Working
"Nickel and Dimed opens a window into the daily lives of the invisible workforce that
fuels the service economy, and endows the men and women who populate it with the
honor that is often lacking on the job. And it forces the reader to realize that all the good-
news talk about welfare reform masks a harsher reality."
- Katherine Newman, The Washington Post
"With grace and wit, Ehrenreich discovers the irony of being `nickel and dimed' during
unprecedented prosperity ... Living wages, she elegantly shows, might erase the shame
that comes from our dependence `on the underpaid labor of others.'"
- Eileen Boris, The Boston Globe
"It is not difficult to endorse Nickel and Dimed as a book that everyone who reads-yes,
everyone - ought to read, for enjoyment, for consciousness-raising and as a call to
action."
- Steve Weinberg, Chicago Tribune
"Unflinching, superb ... Nickel and Dimed is an important book that should be read by
anyone who has been lulled into middle-class complacency."
- Vivien Labaton, Ms.
"Brief but intense ... Nickel and Dimed is an accessible yet relentless look at the lives of
the American underclass."
- David Ulin, Los Angeles Times
, 3 NICKEL AND DIMED
"Unforgettable ... Nickel and Dimed is one of those rare books that will provoke both
outrage and self-reflection. No one who reads this book will be able to resist its power to
make them see the world in a new way."
- Mitchell Duneier, author of Sidewalk
"Observant, opinionated, and always lively ... What makes Nickel and Dimed such an
important book is how viscerally Ehrenreich demonstrates that the method of calculating
the poverty threshold is ludicrously obsolete."
- Laura Miller, Salon.com
"In Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich expertly peals away the layers of selfdenial, self-
interest, and self-protection that separate the rich from the poor, the served from the
servers, the housed from the homeless. This brave and frank book is ultimately a
challenge to create a less divided society."
- Naomi Kein, author of No Logo
"Piercing social criticism backed by first-rate reporting ... Ehrenreich captures not only
the tribulations of finding and performing low-wage work, but the humiliations as well."
- Eric Wieffering, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Barbara Ehrenreich's new book is absolutely riveting- it is terrific storytelling, filled with
fury and delicious humor and stunning moments of the purest empathy with those who
toil beside her."
- Jonathan Kozol, author of Ordinary Resurrections
"Engaging ... Hopefully, Nickel and Dimed will expand public awareness of the real-
world survival struggles that many faced even before the current economic downturn."
- Steve Early, The Nation
"Ehrenreich's account is unforgettable-heart-wrenching, infuriating, funny, smart, and
empowering ... Nickel and Dimed is vintage Ehrenreich and will surely take its place
among the classics of underground reportage."
- Juliet Schor, author of The Overworked American
"Compulsively readable ... Ehrenreich proves, devastatingly, that jobs are not enough;
that the minimum wage is an offensive joke; and that making a salary is not the same
thing as making a living, as making a real fife."
- Alex Ohlin, The Texas Observer
"Ehrenreich writes with clarity, wit, and frankness.... Nickel and Dimed is one of the
most important books to be published this year, a new entry in the tradition of reporting
on poverty that includes George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier and Michael
Harrington's The Other America.... Someone should read this book to George W Bush."
- Chancey Mabe, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
, 4 NICKEL AND DIMED
ALSO BY BARBARA EHRENREICH
Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War
The Snarling Citizen
Kipper's Game
The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed
Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class
The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment
Re- making Love: The Feminization of Sex
(with Elizabeth Hess and Gloria Jacobs)
For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women
(with Deirdre English)
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers
(with Deirdre English)
Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness
(with Deirdre English)
The Mean Season: The Attack on the Welfare State
(with Fred Block, Richard A. Cloward, and Frances Fox Piven)
