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 and How They Feel About What They Do | 
 enlarge | Author: Studs Terkel
Publisher: New Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $6.91
You Save: $10.04 (59%)
New (35) Used (37) Collectible (2) from $6.91
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 640
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.4 x 1.8
ISBN: 1565843428
Dewey Decimal Number: 331.20973
EAN: 9781565843424
Publication Date: February 28, 1997
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Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: This is a discarded library book; it has labels on the exterior and interior and it has been rubber stamped in ink. Binding is tight. Interior is in good condition. Spine of book has minor tear at top.
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Product Description
Studs Terkel records the voices of America. Men and women from every walk of life talk to him, telling him of their likes and dislikes, fears, problems, and happinesses on the job. Once again, Terkel has created a rich and unique document that is as simple as conversation, but as subtle and heartfelt as the meaning of our lives.... In the first trade paperback edition of his national bestseller, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel presents "the real American experience" (Chicago Daily News)--"a magnificent book . . .. A work of art. To read it is to hear America talking." (Boston Globe).
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Engrossing, moving, insightful first-person narratives October 6, 2000
30 out of 30 found this review helpful
I had always meant to read Working, but had never gotten around to it. Then I picked up another book loosely based on it (Gig), so decided to get the original Working as well.pWorking is moving and brilliant and a million times better than Gig. Somehow, Terkel lets the people do their own talking, but it's never monotonous, never repetitive, and they always have profound things to say. Reading these people tell their stories is mesmerizing. Terkel steps in just the right amount, organizing the stories into themes (sometimes very creative ones), but never drowning out his interviewees' voices.pAlthough Working came out in 1972, it feels surprisingly recent. The world of work hasn't changed all that much in thirty years. Still relevant, still entertaining, still thought-provoking. And the professions are indexed in the back, so one needn't read them in order.
dangerous social critique October 24, 2001
63 out of 70 found this review helpful
I feel compelled to respond to brothersjudddotcom. pNowhere in Terkel's book do I get the notion that he believes people don't want to work. I imagine Terkel loves his own work. The subject of the book is the way that most jobs (even good jobs) have become dehumanizing. Robotizing.pOne of his interviewees, a filmmaker, comments on an educational film she saw, one intended to inspire ghetto kids to pursue their dreams. She remarks that the most (financially) successful subject in the film, a businessman, spoke about his money and his possessions while a less successful sculptor led a tour of his studio and spoke about his actual work. She says that she feel people are being deprived of the potential joys in work when we are trained to focus too much on status and salary.pHe also interviews actor Rip Torn, who laments that actors are expected to be shills to tailor their performances to the selling of products. For example, Torn tells a story about being required to smoke cigarettes rather than cigars in a particular role. Historically, the character would not have smoked cigarettes; the sponsor was a cigarette company. Torn felt that both his art and his intelligence, as well as that of the audience, were sold out by this demand.pFar from being badly dated, Terkel's critique is monstrously accurate today. Now, as contrasted with the 1970s, in many families, both parents devote 10+ hours to power games at work at the expense of family time, personal health, community, etc.pI believe that Terkel believes meaningful work to be essential to the human spirit. Problem is, as amount of work increases, meaning seems to be decreasing.
We see what we want to see July 28, 2003
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
Working has been my favorite book - likely the book that had the most implicit impact on the way I think - for many years. I pick it up every year and read a random section, put it back down, and pick it up again. Real stories, genuinely collected.pThe comments are interesting - everyone interprets what Terkel gathered in a way that meets their own worldview. Not too surprising, but read it yourself, and draw your own conclusions - maybe even new ones.
Fascinating look at what we do with the bulk of our time April 8, 1998
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Working profiles the working lives of scores of Americans. From prostitute to chief executive, coal mine worker to major league ballplayer- a myriad of professions are covered. The book reads like a documentary (which it is). Terkel has included the most interesting aspects of each case study's working life, and ultimately you see why each continues to pursue their career in that chosen field- or at least what satisfaction they get from showing up everyday. It's a great book to pick up and spend 5 to 10 minutes or so reading about how someone else's working life has parallels to your own. The interviews were conducted mostly during the late 60's and early 70's but while it is slightly dated, even that fact makes for an interesting historical perspective.
MAGNUM OPUS!! March 30, 2006
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Studs Terkel wanted to write a book about working for a living. So he sat down with a grocery store cashier and interviewed her about her job. He didn't ask very many questions; he just turned on a tape recorder and let her pour her heart out. She explained what she did for a living, how and why she came to do it, what she liked and disliked about her job. She talked about the little dramas and boredom that filled her working hours and the toll it took on her private life. When she was finished talking she had created a vivid "snapshot" with words of what it's like to work as a grocery store cashier.br /Then Studs interviewed a bartender, a teacher, a pro athlete and dozens of other people from dozens of professions. They each created in their own words unique self-portraits of themselves at work. The book Working is like an art gallery filled with these detailed self-portraits.br /And just like strolling through an art gallery looking at paintings will give you a feel for the visions of a variety of artists, reading Working will give you a taste of the flavor of the working lives of it's subjects.br /br /
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