Working in the Shadows

A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won't Do

Business & Finance, Career Planning & Job Hunting, Labor, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Emigration & Immigration
Cover of the book Working in the Shadows by Gabriel Thompson, PublicAffairs
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Gabriel Thompson ISBN: 9781568586991
Publisher: PublicAffairs Publication: July 12, 2011
Imprint: Bold Type Books Language: English
Author: Gabriel Thompson
ISBN: 9781568586991
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication: July 12, 2011
Imprint: Bold Type Books
Language: English

What is it like to do the back-breaking work of immigrants? To find out, Gabriel Thompson spent a year working alongside Latino immigrants, who initially thought he was either crazy or an undercover immigration agent. He stooped over lettuce fields in Arizona, and worked the graveyard shift at a chicken slaughterhouse in rural Alabama. He dodged taxis-not always successfully-as a bicycle delivery “boy” for an upscale Manhattan restaurant, and was fired from a flower shop by a boss who, he quickly realized, was nuts.

As one coworker explained, “These jobs make you old quick.” Back spasms occasionally keep Thompson in bed, where he suffers recurring nightmares involving iceberg lettuce and chicken carcasses. Combining personal narrative with investigative reporting, Thompson shines a bright light on the underside of the American economy, exposing harsh working conditions, union busting, and lax government enforcement-while telling the stories of workers, undocumented immigrants, and desperate US citizens alike, forced to live with chronic pain in the pursuit of 8 an hour.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

What is it like to do the back-breaking work of immigrants? To find out, Gabriel Thompson spent a year working alongside Latino immigrants, who initially thought he was either crazy or an undercover immigration agent. He stooped over lettuce fields in Arizona, and worked the graveyard shift at a chicken slaughterhouse in rural Alabama. He dodged taxis-not always successfully-as a bicycle delivery “boy” for an upscale Manhattan restaurant, and was fired from a flower shop by a boss who, he quickly realized, was nuts.

As one coworker explained, “These jobs make you old quick.” Back spasms occasionally keep Thompson in bed, where he suffers recurring nightmares involving iceberg lettuce and chicken carcasses. Combining personal narrative with investigative reporting, Thompson shines a bright light on the underside of the American economy, exposing harsh working conditions, union busting, and lax government enforcement-while telling the stories of workers, undocumented immigrants, and desperate US citizens alike, forced to live with chronic pain in the pursuit of 8 an hour.

More books from PublicAffairs

Cover of the book A Path Out of Poverty by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book Genocide of the Mind by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book I Swear I'll Make It Up to You by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book Suspected of Independence by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book The Fate of Africa by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book My Turn by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book Radicals Chasing Utopia by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book The Snow Leopard Project by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book Latino America by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book Power Hungry by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book Ship of Fools by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book The Great American Stickup by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book Good for You, Great for Me by Gabriel Thompson
Cover of the book All God's Children by Gabriel Thompson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy