"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." (Francis Bacon)

Monday, October 27, 2025

Nickel and Dimed

TITLE: Nickel and Dimed: (On (Not) Getting By in America
AUTHOR: Barbara Ehrenreich

I've been working my way through old books. I'd thought I'd read this years ago, but no. Despite reading it so many years after it was published (in 2001), it still feels current (minus the out-of-date statistics). 

The author spent the better part of a year working in low-income jobs and paying for her expenses with her earnings only. She waitressed in Florida, cleaned houses in Maine while working weekends at a nursing home, and was sales "associate" at a Wal-Mart in Minnesota. 

Ehrenreich has a way with words, making for an entertaining read while educating readers about the issues faced by the working poor, a situation that still stymies upward mobility and financial security of this economic class. Well worth reading.

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