Greg Weeks has a good post up on his site this morning*, a concise but insightful review of what looks like a very interesting book. Here’s how Weeks introduces the subject.
I really enjoyed Gabriel Thompson’s new book Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs [Most] American Won’t Do. Back in 2007 I reviewed his book There’s No José Here. To highlight the plight of low wage immigrant workers, he gets a job picking lettuce in Yuma, Arizona, then in a chicken factory in Russelville, Alabama, and finally a restaurant in New York City.
It is a very well written book, and he captures how incredibly hard the work is
We’re then given some excerpts from the book and reported comment such as:
For all three jobs, he wanted to quit early and was relieved when it was done, acknowledging the privilege he had in doing so, when in fact others were doing two such jobs at the same time to make ends meet.
This humble corner of cyberspace recommends Weeks’ post to you, dear reader. Plenty of food for thought.
*yeah i know