America in the ’aughts—hilariously skewered, brilliantly dissected, and darkly diagnosed by the bestselling social critic hailed... read full description
reviews
Aug 03, 2008
Rebecca
rated it: 
There’s no replacing the late, beloved pundit Molly Ivins and her ability to skewer the right with such great good humor, but Barbara Ehrenreich comes closest to filling the gap. In this collection of recent topical mini-essays, the author of the recent classic “Nickel and Dimed” targets the myriad issues our right-leaning government and corporate America use to distract us from those that could and should unite the country in righteous indignation. What should be uniting us, as Ehrenreich comes
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Aug 21, 2008
Sarah
rated it: 
I started out really liking this book--what can I say, she pulled at my tender heartstrings when she bitched about the bloated overclass--but I'm a fan of citing sources and studies...and, unfortunately, I don't think that there is one footnote or citation in this book. Boo. That's journalistic research for ya!
2 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Aug 10, 2008
Chazz
rated it:
I'm cashing in my "political capital" and reviewing this book, even though I didn't read more than two thirds of the essays.
The book could have been titled The Audacity of Hope - NOT!!!. Perhaps you saw the movie Happyness, starring Will Smith, in which he couldn't catch a break in life for an unremitting two hours of torture at the theater. That movie's mood captures that despair of the essays in this book.
On the other hand, Ehrenreich makes some interesting p More...
The book could have been titled The Audacity of Hope - NOT!!!. Perhaps you saw the movie Happyness, starring Will Smith, in which he couldn't catch a break in life for an unremitting two hours of torture at the theater. That movie's mood captures that despair of the essays in this book.
On the other hand, Ehrenreich makes some interesting p More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 07, 2008
Heidi
rated it: 
Ehrenreich has this amazing ability to look critically at social, political, education and economic policy and point out exactly where the policiy falls short of meeting its supposed goal. I think this is an important book for people to read because, even though each chapter is short and doesn't list a whole host of numbers and statistics (although she sights, of course, for your researching if you're so inclined) she really gets you think about the flip side of the current administration's poli
More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Aug 11, 2008
Traci
rated it:
I've read her other books- I liked them, but this one, not so much. I understand her intent- to make us aware of absurd CEO salaries, unfair employment practices to increase profit, millions that do not have health insurance, etc.- and those facts and figures, and stories were stunning. I agree that these are huge problems facing the American public today. They frustrate me, and they obviously frustrate her. But, I don't want to read a whole book of horrible scenarios and only have few plausi
More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Sep 07, 2008
Elyssa
rated it:
This book is comprised of short and witty essays and articles by the author of Nickel and Dimed, a book that I enjoyed. Barbara Ehrenreich is effective in illustrating all of the dysfunction of U.S. society, especially the struggles of the working poor and the middle class. Unfortunately, her essays sound like a series of rants with very few proposed solutions. I just don't see what good it does to talk about all that ails us and not recommend changes. As a result of reading this book, I am hype
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Sep 04, 2008
Dwhren
rated it:
This book is really just a compilation of columns and short articles Ehrenreich has written for other publications collected together under topics such as the economy, politics, healthcare, and religion. Although I agree with a lot of her points, I don't agree with everything. But that's okay because it's always nice to get another viewpoint on things. A lot of the essays made me angry about things that have happened and are happening in this country and how we treat many of our citizens. It
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 20, 2009
Helen
rated it:
For those readers familiar with Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed” and “Bait and Switch”, Ehrenreich offers a different type book here. Rather than inserting herself into a typical working-class existence, through a series of essays she examines the current state of America and what it means for the average American. From corporate irresponsibility to prisoner abuse, Ehrenreich intensely scrutinizes the duplicity of American politics and culture. Much of what she has to say, in my humble opinion, i
More...
Jan 02, 2009
Rebecca
rated it: 
I really liked Nickel and Dimed. It was original, clever, frightening and a total page-turner. I read it while restocking the shelves at a university bookstore, getting paid $6.50 an hour. It resonated.
But this book? What happened? Here's how I imagine it:
Publisher: we need another book from you.
Barbara: Ugh, but I'm so busy with my speaking schedule I haven't been working on anything new.
Publisher: we need it in three weeks.
Barbara: Hum, okay, I'll hobble t More...
But this book? What happened? Here's how I imagine it:
Publisher: we need another book from you.
Barbara: Ugh, but I'm so busy with my speaking schedule I haven't been working on anything new.
Publisher: we need it in three weeks.
Barbara: Hum, okay, I'll hobble t More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jan 23, 2011
Laura
rated it:
I like the essay format for a change: she has a lot of ground to cover, and I like that I can read a few essays at a time and then put down the book for a while. She makes a lot of good points, as always, but I often felt that the snark (which I mostly didn't find all that funny) prevented her from getting very deep into the arguments both for and against some of the points she was making. Sometimes she's making observations about poignant or outrageous things, and not much argumentation was nee
More...
Feb 10, 2009
Shinynickel
rated it:
Once again I try to read a book of essays, and once again I am frustrated.
I think it's because I spend so much time online, and most popular essays are about the length of a really good blog post. Unlike blog posts, however, these essays lack any kind of linkage to provide context. When Ehrenreich wants to talk about something Rush Limbaugh said, I have to take her on faith. When she talks about increasing layoffs, etc, I have to take her on faith. I don't necessarily suspect her of More...
I think it's because I spend so much time online, and most popular essays are about the length of a really good blog post. Unlike blog posts, however, these essays lack any kind of linkage to provide context. When Ehrenreich wants to talk about something Rush Limbaugh said, I have to take her on faith. When she talks about increasing layoffs, etc, I have to take her on faith. I don't necessarily suspect her of More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 30, 2008
Lydia
rated it:
I had started reading "The Shock Doctrine" and found it to be too much over a holiday break. I was so enthralled by the first 16 pages, but wanted to truly put time into the book; so I switched to "This Land" since I need to send it to my daughter in Azerbaijan anyway.
I admire Ehrenreich's ability to structure 2-4 page pithy, often tongeu-in-cheek summaries of her interpretation of major global issues, although as an academician I must admit a certain bias in work More...
I admire Ehrenreich's ability to structure 2-4 page pithy, often tongeu-in-cheek summaries of her interpretation of major global issues, although as an academician I must admit a certain bias in work More...
Aug 01, 2011
Kurt
rated it:
Your experience of this book will depend almost entirely on whether or not you already find Barbara Ehrenreich witty and insightful and fascinating. I do, so I enjoyed this collection of brief observations, but it would not have converted me if I had come to it as an Ehrenreich skeptic. The basic theme holding the book together is something like, "Life is really hard in the U.S. in the first decade of the new millenium," and Ehrenreich casts a wide net as she mocks big business, the he
More...
Jan 21, 2010
Emily
rated it:
Barbara's book is a really good one. I give it 3.5 stars but round down because a) it's more a series of essays than a cohesive book. She makes a lot of great individual points which somewhat naturally go together, and I appreciate that she doesn't overwrite transitions, but still - book of essays; and b), perhaps the bigger reason, is that I can't recommend this book to any but my most liberal friends. Ehrenreich is a hardcore liberal. I like her because she is more or less consistent in he
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 02, 2011
Barbara Ehrenreich's new book is a collection of short pieces about various aspects of American life today, divided into sections about general issues such as sex, medical care, economic inequality, and religion. To her credit, BE doesn't try to suggest that our problems could be solved by electing more Democrats (besides, when voters did just that in 2006, nothing changed, except maybe for the worse). BE isn't afraid to admit when she was previously wrong, as in her discussion of how the Abu Gh
More...
May 17, 2009
Leigh
rated it:
SUCH a disappointment! I loved Nicked and Dimed; I thought Bait and Switch a solid follow-up, if perhaps not quite as sharp or sassy as its predecessor. But this work was just limp and uninspired.
If you were expecting a book with a solid thesis, look elsewhere; This Land is Their Land is just a collection of essays by Ehrenreich, some of which have been previously published in other sources. Lacking any formal citations, they read as editorials - Ehrenreich's opinions, nothing more. More...
If you were expecting a book with a solid thesis, look elsewhere; This Land is Their Land is just a collection of essays by Ehrenreich, some of which have been previously published in other sources. Lacking any formal citations, they read as editorials - Ehrenreich's opinions, nothing more. More...
Jul 29, 2011
I loved Nickel and Dimed by Ehrenreich...while she was quite critical of of government, programs for the poor, major corporations, Wal-mart etc..I felt like she legitimzed her arguments because she spent the entire year before writing the book working at a series of minimum wage jobs and getting a full appreciation for how difficult it is to have even the basic necessities much less acheive the "American Dream." In This Land is Their Land, she is so bitter and cynical that it is almost
More...
Feb 17, 2009
Norah
rated it:
I've followed Ehrenreich's rise, from her days of giving speeches to union gatherings in Minneapolis in the wake of Nickel and Dimed and have always thought that she has something interesting to contribute (despite some of the problems with her work). However, this books reads like a random collection of her thoughts on a whole bunch of topics--economics and the American worker (obviously) but also cancer and abortion...and a lot of other things. It was interesting, but there was no overarching
More...
Oct 06, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
Despite sharing many political opinions and sympathies with the author I was relatively disappointed with this book. There were a few excellent bits regarding the oft-overlooked costs associated with being poor in America but overall the book felt like a series of poorly-reasoned rants. Even in the instances where I wholeheartedly agreed with Ms. Ehrenreich's conclusions I often felt that her arguments lacked depth. A poorly reasoned argument for a correct conclusion can easily backfire as it
More...
May 27, 2009
Kathleen
rated it:
This book is a witty, insightful, and utterly depressing collection of essays about an array of social, economic, and political issues. These issues range from health care to government funding of faith-based organizations to sky rocketing property values. Being a Barbara Ehrenreich book, these essays of course treat heavily on the disparity of class in America, and they do so brilliantly. She uses just the right mix of wit and fact to make her point. The ever widening gap between rich and p
More...
Sep 15, 2008
Kyle
rated it:
Didn't care much for this piece of literature. I was expecting another Nickel and Dimed, and this wasn't it. Each 3 page chapter just regurgitated facts that you could find on the internet about corruption in American. There was no story. I found it very difficult to make it through the chapters.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 21, 2008
Lisa
rated it: 
Barbara Ehrenreich is the Michael Moore of print journalism. She tells it like it is, using statistics and facts accompanied by her always present wit. Whether it's gay marriage, abortion, low-wages or lack of health care, Ehrenreich will leave you educated and enraged.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 19, 2011
Pikachu
rated it:
Muckraker Barbara Ehrenreich is one of the 99% — a fact that she isn't about to let us soon forget. In her 2008 exposé of the Man's exploits, This Land Is Your Their Land, which consists of several essays (some of which written in the style of Mr. Swift's “Modest Proposal”, such as the suggestion that parents should consider taking their children to the vastly cheaper veterinarians in the face of cruddy health care providers), Ms. Ehrenreich lets us know that she is a) feminist/socialist/liberal
More...
Jan 18, 2009
David
rated it:
unlikely to persuade anyone who doesn't already agree with her politically, the book conists of many short takes on why Republicans and corporations and income inequality and CEO's and rich people are terrible. Some illuminating anecdotes, and her writing style is pretty funny at times, but for the most part it's hit-and-run rather than a sustained argument backed by any original research.
This may be one that would be more enjoyable if you dipped into it to read one or two essays at More...
This may be one that would be more enjoyable if you dipped into it to read one or two essays at More...
Mar 02, 2010
Molly
rated it:
Easily the angriest, most revolutionary book I have read in a long time, I really enjoyed this collection of Ehrenreich's essays from 2007-08.
Just one of the interesting thought experiments she conducts in the book, she quips, “we can expect the Heritage Foundation to reveal any day now that some seniors are cashing in their Social Security checks for vodka and Viagra. Just as welfare was said to ‘cause poverty,’ the experts may soon announce that Medicare causes baldness and that More...
Just one of the interesting thought experiments she conducts in the book, she quips, “we can expect the Heritage Foundation to reveal any day now that some seniors are cashing in their Social Security checks for vodka and Viagra. Just as welfare was said to ‘cause poverty,’ the experts may soon announce that Medicare causes baldness and that More...
Nov 21, 2008
sleeps9hours
rated it:
It’s a collection of short essays, 3-4 pages each, many drawn from articles she’d written previously for other publications. The format was therefore disjointed, and though I like Ehrenreich, I was left with a mish-mash of issues given short shrift, and just a general, “the right-wing and powerful in our country suck”, which isn’t news to me. It seemed like a quick project, thrown together to make a quick buck off of a “new” book. There were some shocking statistics, which were interesting, b
More...
Jun 26, 2010
Lize
rated it:
I'm usually a huge Ehrenreich fan; her "Nickel and Dimed" and "Bright-Sided" were hard-hitting and thought-provoking. This one, a collection of short essays/blog entries/columns mostly about the growing gulf between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' is just as hard-hitting, but also one of the most depressing, hopeless reads I've ever found. Probably because so much of it is true. And that's the problem. The situations we face right now are so horrible, so hopeless, so dire tha
More...
Sep 15, 2011
Andy
rated it:
This Land is a random and uneven sampling of essays, editorials, and/or blogs, which is at times highly entertaining (the item on Who Moved My Cheese and its ilk, for example is pure gold), at times depressing (a lot of understandable gnashing of teeth over the economic state of the union, which I agree with, but, which, after a while, tends to grind due to its relentless message of "We're hosed."), or just annoying (an overabundance of preaching to the choir and following the politica
More...
Apr 23, 2010
Joe
rated it:
This is a great book about what's wrong with our country. Ehrenriech doesn't just write about what's wrong, but if you've read her previous books then you know she also lives it. Before Spurlock did 30 days Ehrenriech was working for minimum wage and trying to see if it was possible to actually survive on that (spoiler alert: you can't).
This book touches on several subjects including corporate greed, religion, gay marriage, and immigration. Her prose is biting and funny. She may More...
This book touches on several subjects including corporate greed, religion, gay marriage, and immigration. Her prose is biting and funny. She may More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 30, 2009
Cheri
rated it:
A pithy, sharp, satiric look at America. Basically a lot of blog rants strung together to form a book. No sources, no real depth, Barbara Ehrenreich is preaching to the choir.
Yes, America is polarized into the haves and have-nots (with many of us in the middle sinking farther down on the spectrum). The failure of this book is to spark debate about what to do next. All you're left with is a scummy feeling of hopelessness as another crass example of how we're getting screwed is dragge More...
Yes, America is polarized into the haves and have-nots (with many of us in the middle sinking farther down on the spectrum). The failure of this book is to spark debate about what to do next. All you're left with is a scummy feeling of hopelessness as another crass example of how we're getting screwed is dragge More...
