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A Day in the Life: Work Memoirs
Think your job is the worst in the world? Take a gander at these work memoirs to walk a mile in someone else's work boots!
Tags: autobiography, biography, career, memoir, memoirs, nonfiction, and work

3
All Creatures Great and Small
All Creatures Great and Small
by James Herriot 8 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
4
Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library
Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in ...
by Don Borchert 6 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
5
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of ...
by Steve Dublanica 6 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
6
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day...
by Studs Terkel 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
7
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfec...
by Atul Gawande 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
8
Without Wax: A Documentary Novel
Without Wax: A Documentary Novel
by William Walsh (Goodreads author) 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
9
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Crit...
by Ruth Reichl 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
10
Teacher Man: A Memoir
Teacher Man: A Memoir
by Frank McCourt 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
11
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal T...
by Thomas Lynch 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
11
A Broom of One's Own: Words on Writing, Housecleaning, and Life
A Broom of One's Own: Words on Writing, Housecl...
by Nancy Peacock 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
13
Uncommon Carriers
Uncommon Carriers
by John McPhee 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
13
Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women
Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women
by Alexa Albert 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
15
Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress
Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress
by Debra Ginsberg 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
16
Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide
Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Bot...
by Peter Allison 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
17
Hack: How I Stopped Worrying About What to Do with My Life and Started Driving a Yellow Cab
Hack: How I Stopped Worrying About What to Do w...
by Melissa Plaut (Goodreads author) 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
17
Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing
Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing
by Ted Conover 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
17
Somebody Else's Kids
Somebody Else's Kids
by Torey Hayden 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
20
Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing and Hope in My Life as an Animal Surgeon
Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing...
by Nick Trout 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
21
A Year in Provence
A Year in Provence
by Peter Mayle 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
22
Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef's Memoir of Hot Kitchens, Single Motherhood, and the Family Meal
Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef's Memoir of Hot K...
by Gillian Clark 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
22
Personal Days: A Novel
Personal Days: A Novel
by Ed Park (Goodreads author) 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
24
Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs
Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs
by Sabin Streeter, John Bowe 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
25
Quiet, Please: Dispatches From A Public Librarian
Quiet, Please: Dispatches From A Public Librarian
by Scott Douglas (Goodreads author) 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
25
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely S...
by Diablo Cody 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
27
Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States
Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in A...
by Pete Jordan 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
28
Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler: A Memoir
Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler: A M...
by Wade Rouse 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
29
Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality
Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality
by Pauline W. Chen 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
29
Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess
Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and ...
by Lea Jacobson 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
31
Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America
Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland Ame...
by Stephen G. Bloom 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
32
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave,...
by Bill Buford 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
33
Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee
Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a F...
by Alex Frankel 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
Driving with Dead People
Driving with Dead People
by Monica Holloway 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
Stet: An Editor's Life
Stet: An Editor's Life
by Diana Athill 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
Post Office
Post Office
by Charles Bukowski 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
Labor Days: An Anthology of Fiction About Work
Labor Days: An Anthology of Fiction About Work
by David Gates 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
Tales from the Teachers' Lounge: An Irreverent View of What It Really Means To Be a Teacher Today
Tales from the Teachers' Lounge: An Irreverent ...
by Robert Wilder 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
A Raven in My Heart: Reflections of a Bookseller
A Raven in My Heart: Reflections of a Bookseller
by Kay McCracken (Goodreads author) 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
The Hospital at the End of the World
The Hospital at the End of the World
by Joe Niemczura (Goodreads author) 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
34
Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools: Tuck Into a Slice of Andalucan Life
Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools: Tuck Into a ...
by Victoria Twead 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
42
Blue Blood
Blue Blood
by Edward Conlon 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
42
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive ...
by Jennifer Traig 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
42
Cop to Call Girl
Cop to Call Girl
by Norma Jean Almodovar 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
42
The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles
The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chroni...
by Jeff Martin (Editor), Wade Rouse 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
46
School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School
School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top Ame...
by Edward Humes 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
46
Keys to the City: Tales of a New York City Locksmith
Keys to the City: Tales of a New York City Lock...
by Joel Kostman 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
49
Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life
Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life
by Mimi Sheraton 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
49
Deadline Poet: My Life As a Doggerelist
Deadline Poet: My Life As a Doggerelist
by Calvin Trillin 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
51
Wife of the Chef
Wife of the Chef
by Courtney Febbroriello 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
52
Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man's Tour of Duty Inside the IRS
Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man's Tour ...
by Richard Yancey 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
53
Beware of Cat: And Other Encounters of a Letter Carrier
Beware of Cat: And Other Encounters of a Letter...
by Vincent Wyckoff 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
53
Here If You Need Me: A True Story
Here If You Need Me: A True Story
by Kate Braestrup 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
56
Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-City Bartender
Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big-Cit...
by Ty Wenzel 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
58
Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process
Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Dis...
by Irene M. Pepperberg 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
59
Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home
Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home
by Gil Reavill 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
60
Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat
Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat
by Caroline Burau 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
60
Admissions Confidential: An Insider's Account of the Elite College Selection Process
Admissions Confidential: An Insider's Account o...
by Rachel Toor (Goodreads author) 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
62
Selling Ben Cheever: Back to Square One in a Service Economy
Selling Ben Cheever: Back to Square One in a Se...
by Benjamin Cheever 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
63
Double Billing: A Young Lawyer's Tale Of Greed, Sex, Lies, And The Pursuit Of A Swivel Chair
Double Billing: A Young Lawyer's Tale Of Greed,...
by Cameron Stracher 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
64
Working IX to V: Orgy Planners, Funeral Clowns, and Other Prized Professions of the Ancient World
Working IX to V: Orgy Planners, Funeral Clowns,...
by Vicki Leon 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
65
Another Life: A Memoir of Other People
Another Life: A Memoir of Other People
by Michael Korda 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
66
Around the World in a Bad Mood! : Confessions of a Flight Attendant
Around the World in a Bad Mood! : Confessions o...
by Rene Foss 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
List started by: Tara (votes)
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comments (showing 1-1 of 1) (1 new)

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message 1: by Muzzlehatch (new)

749155 Very cool idea for a list! At first glance I've only read one, and it's hard to think of more for me, but there are some neat books here.


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