Here's what we've been reading about recently:

John:

I've been on a search for meaning in the working world since I left Microsoft.  It took me quite awhile to come to terms with what happened there, and why leaving was a better option than staying.  Since then, I've been reading about careers, working, getting rich, that sort of thing:

• Get A Life, William Shatner, Atria Books 1999, ISBN 0-6710-2131-1

  William Shatner, most famous for his role as Captain Kirk in the NBC TV show 'Star Trek' and it's subsequent movies, discusses his take on the phenomena created from that show.  He presents a very personable and self-deprecating account of his ignorance and discovery of the passion people have for 'Star Trek', giving lots of insights into life as a celebrity and presenter on the convention circuit.

• Peace Like a River, Lief Enger, Grove Press 2002, ISBN 0-8021-3925-6

  Reuben Land's childhood in small-town Minnestota around 1962.  I heard this first on Radio Reader on NPR.

• A Working Stiff's Manifesto, Iain Levison, Soho Press 2002 ISBN 1-56947-280-7

  This is a rather humorous exploration of the hourly-wage earning travails of Iain.  As an English degree holder from Villanova, he finds essentially no meaningful employment, and bounces from one lousy job to another.  Too much truth in the book to ignore.

• Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich, Metropolitan Books 2001, ISBN 0-8050-6388-9

  Barbara is an accomplished writer who went undercover in the hourly-wage world to see how people get by on less than living wages.  A little tough to read, especially if you are working hourly.  She comes away very angry at the class social system that is evolving in the USA, essentially a have versus have-nots system, where the haves "employ" and generally abuse/ignore the have-nots.  What she found:  the folks earning $5.25 to $10 per hour aren't making it, living very near homelessness at all times and well below the poverty line.

• "Investigative Reports - Wage Slaves: Not Getting By in America", A&E 8/02
  Not a book, but the impetus for the next couple books I read, this is a 2-hour documentary featuring Barbara and Iain and many government and academic higher-ups.

10/22/2006