Have you ever imagined what being a mustachioed New York cop in the 70s was like? Or how it feels to labour as a Springsteen-esque steelworker? How about as a stonemason? If you’ve ever idly wondered about any of these things, or about sundry other ways that people make a living, you can’t pass Work...more
They ask me if it’s true that when we bury somebody we dig ‘em out in four, five years and replace ‘em with another one. I tell ‘em no. When these people is buried, he’s buried here for life.
—Elmer Ruiz, Gravedigger
It is not really accurate to call Terkel the “author” of this book. The real authors ...more
This book was to some degree a political gesture when it was written--a radical reassessment of which lives are worth documenting and which voices worth being heard--but it would be a shame to read it that way.
What this book is is what life feels like during the hours you don't choose for yourself- ...more
In the early 1970s, Studs Terkel interviewed over 100 people to ask them about their jobs. Their insights were always interesting, sometimes hilarious, and often amazing.
When I put the plate down, you don’t hear a sound. When I pick up a glass, I want it to be just right. When someone says, “How com...more
Studs Terkel opens Working with one of the most stirring sentences I have read of late: "This book, being about work, is, by its very nature, about violence - to the spirit as well as to the body." And although Terkel's voice and narration are only present for the following 13 pages of the Introduct ...more
I think that in today's climate of reality TV and everyone trying to sell their story or seek their "15 minutes" that the interviews for this book couldn't have been done with the un-selfconsciousness with which they were done 30-plus years ago. ...more
My father died recently, just short of his 94th birthday. His wife has been gradually divesting herself of his possessions, among them many books, several of them by Studs.
Dad was a great fan of classical music and a bit of a leftist. In Chicago, that combination was best approximated by WFMT radio ...more
Anything you like to do isn’t tiresome. (Carl Murray Bates, stonemason, Kindle 809)
Working is a compendium of first-person narratives about, erm, work – the good, the bad, the ugly. Speakers range from 12 years of age to 75 (or more). They are male and female; White, Black, and Latin. Many are blue- ...more
Here's another one for my unfinished shelf, unfortunately. I've read about 250 pages, which is one-third of the way through, but with the end so far on the horizon, I'm ready to give up. Since the book is structured in individual interviews, can always pick up again some other time. It's not like it ...more
I'll feel like I achieved something finishing this book. Picked this book up a number of times since I bought it in the 70's but never but a dent into it. Studs was a highly accomplished interviewer and they feel like each person is talking to you . As i think about it I have had about 15 jobs since ...more
Short little 1/2-4 page interviews with people about their jobs. There is the stockbroker that admits getting into the stocks is going to have you losing money, the housewife, the executive secretary (this was published n the 70s), the mason, hotel operator, newspaper carrier.... It's interesting es ...more
I've wanted to read this book for a long time. I don't know if Terkel was the first to publish everyman interviews about lives from all walks of life from hookers to priests to craftsmen to steelworkers to TV producers, but it certainly has been a reference text. It was fascinating, in great part be ...more
Great concept and lots of good stories but ultimately too long and too many pointless stories.
The last two stories (the Patrick brothers) were examples of the book’s high points. Each had interesting events to describe and their points of view were unique.
The book flopped when people offered their ...more