Member Reviews

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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 5 stars

  “This is a must-read for everyone who is not a minimum wage worker. I suppose that those who are living off min. wage know all this anyway. We need to be aware of the circumstances in which our fellow Americans are living and what is happening to class differences. This book has incited me to be more careful about where I put my money as a consumer and how I view or judge others. It has also aroused me to be more politically informed about issues that I can influence by my vote. ”

  Daina wrote this review Friday, July 18 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 1 stars

  “I was really excited to read this book after hearing so many good things about it in the social sciences circles at school. It took me a few years before I finally read it and I was very disappointed. I feel like Ehrenreich really half assed the whole "experiment". She admittedly spent time at home which totally negates the whole idea. I was more impressed with Morgan Spurlock's go at it on his show 30 Days. ”

  holysocks wrote this review Saturday, February 23 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 4 stars

  “I liked this book because it portrayed how many Americans lived today. It was interesting to see that so many people have to live on this minimum wage that isn't a living wage. I think Barbara should be commended on exposing this. On the other hand, I tended not to like Barbara throughout the book. She seemed condescending and superficial. She never truly became part of the lifestyle, mostly because of her own pride.”

  Morgan L wrote this review 10 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 0 stars

  “This book was based on a real experiment where Barbara traveled around the country and living in poverty. She goes out and starts getting minimum wages jobs. Its hard for er to find jobs and places to live. she learns that this life and experiment was a lot harder then what she thought. I thought that the whole concept of her experiment was a really interesting idea. I would recommend this book to everyone.”

  JULIA S wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 2 stars

  “I read this book for the summer reading assignment. The book is about not being able to survive on minimum wage in America. The author is a middle class woman who decides to take on the challenge and the book is basically a report through a novel. I hated this book and did not find it interesting at all, most of the time the book was in my hand my eyes were shut.”

  Caolan wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 1 stars

  “Barbara Ehrenreich makes three stops in America to work with low wage jobs to see how people can get by on minimum wages. She starts in Florida goes to Maine and ends in Minnesota. She learns that the labor force in America isn't easy, and the low wage working Americans usually have to have two jobs to support their needs and just getting by. Some may argue that Barbara might not have been able to understand what most people go through, because she set rules for herself on not living on the streets and always owning a car. I think that this is true and in order to understand what people are going through you have to give it all up.”

  BENJAMIN C wrote this review Monday, October 20 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 0 stars

  “The book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich depicted the author's experience working as a lower class worker. The whole book seems to be a kind of experiment carried out by Barbara Ehrenreich. The hypothesis is her initial belief about the easiness and the unskillfulness that working as a lower class worker require. The experiment is pretty much her own experience along the way. The conclusion is thus the final transformation of consciousness that she arrived at through doing this experiment.
  
  In addition, this book also demonstrated a famous quote "The surface doesn't always tell the things below." The common realization might be that in such a prosperous country as United States, the lower class workers can live well off. However, the reality is, with a high inflation, rising house price and the stagnation of salary, those people are struggling.”

  Ying Kang Duan's Active Account wrote this review Friday, September 12 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 2 stars

  “It is no secret that living on minimum wage earnings will lead to nothing but frustration as one attempts to live a simple existence. Barbara Ehrenreich set out to attempt to live as many Americans do today-on a minimum wage salary. A powerful scene from the novel was when Barbara was working for The Maids, a cleaning service, and at one point had to get down on her hands and knees. The significance of the scene had to do with the fact that Barbara began to feel inferior to those that hired her. Another powerful scene from the novel was when Barbara spoke to a woman named Caroline, who had at one point struggled just as she did then, to exist a compatible life on a minimum wage salary. This meeting made Barbara realize that that which she was attempting to experience was lived through by many everyday, although these many do not choose to do so. I really hated this book because I did not think it necessary for Barbara to explore that which is obvious-living comfortably on a minimum wage salary is nearly impossible. ”

  JESSICA S wrote this review Saturday, September 13 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 3 stars

  “I didn't finish this book, and now I remember why - its depressing as hell. How can you go about your day knowing fully how people are suffering so badly in a rich country like the United States (and the world for that matter). Its just too much for me to get too deep into. Sorry. :(”

  Heather A wrote this review Wednesday, September 3 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 4 stars

  “Oh, America... why do you treat your people so? This book was an eye-opener; interesting and very readable.”

  sarahburns wrote this review Monday, August 25 2008. ( reply | permalink )