Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class [Paperback]

Barbara Ehrenreich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1990 | ISBN-10: 0060973331 | ISBN-13: 978-0060973339 | Edition: First Edition

A brilliant and insightful work that examines the insecurities of the middle class in an attempt to explain its turn to the right during the past two decades, Fear of Falling traces the myths about the middle class to their roots in the ambitions and anxieties that torment the group and that have led to its retreat from a responsible leadership role.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ehrenreich charges that the U.S. middle class (especially professionals) has retreated from liberalism to a meaner, more selfish outlook. "In an analysis that should be a starting point for future debate, Ehrenreich exposes many myths and shibboleths . . . and urges the middle class to join America's working-class majority in an effort to redistribute wealth and power downward to those who need it most," remarked PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The "central character" in this breezy foray into popular sociology is the "professional middle class," a loosely defined group the author castigates as elitist, self-absorbed, and selfish. Other players include the lower and working classes, the New Class (the liberal wing of the middle class), and yuppies, who are passionately denounced and, oddly, spoken of only in the past tense. Ehrenreich, an active socialist and author of The Hearts of Men ( LJ 7/83) and For Her Own Good ( LJ 8/78), concludes that the middle class needs to become more caring and inclusive ("welcoming everyone, until there remains no other class"). An interesting but ephemeral book.
- Kenneth F. Kister, Poynter Inst. for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; First Edition edition (September 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060973331
• ISBN-13: 978-0060973339
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BARBARA EHRENREICH is the author of fourteen books, including the bestselling Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch. She lives in Virginia, USA.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 91 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars insightful & important analysis of U.S. class stratification September 21, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This is exactly the kind of sociology text that every person in America, those in the middle class in particular, should read and discuss. Barbara Ehrenrich does a fascinating and completely absorbing job of tracing, explaining and analyzing the history/rise of the professional middle class in America from post-WWII through the Reagan Era. She also points out quite perceptively how pervasive middle class ethos are in shaping our culture, politics and the media, and how as a result the working poor, who constitute the majority of U.S. citizens, are often ill-defined and underserved. Her thoughts on everything from the media to student revolts to yuppies to the fitness craze are razor sharp, in addition to being a very telling mirror to hold up to America's excess and increasing social stratification. I sincerely hope that Ehrenreich decides to update this book and look at this last decade of our social/class history. A must read.

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Still relevant after all these years June 3, 2004

By Smallchief VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I read "Fear of Falling" out of curiosity. Can a book published in 1989 about the American middle class still be relevant? Sadly -- for reasons that will be detailed below -- it still can be. The middle class in 2004 is still as selfish, self-seeking, and elitist as it was when Ehrenreich wrote this book. There are quaint features to the book. The author speaks indignantly of business executives earning $1 million per year -- a big salary in 1989, but chump change for the CEO of 2004.

Ehrenreich defines the middle class as the professional and managerial workers -- the doctors, lawyers, professors, and mid-level executives -- of our society. In 2004, members of the professional middle class would have incomes of at least $60,000 up to about $250,000 per year. They would comprise nearly one half of the American population. Over the middle class would be the rich, two or three percent of the population, and below would be the lower or working classes, comprising about one half of the population.

Ehrenreich provides a mini-history of the professional middle class from 1960 up till the late 1980s. What one sees over these three decades is increasing distance between the middle and the lower classes -- plus increasing disinterest in addressing problems of poverty and social injustice in the U.S. The middle class "is too driven by its own ambitions, too compromised by its own elite status, and too removed from those whose sufferings cry out most loudly for redress." She attributes the middle class's anxiety to "fear of falling" into the nether-world of Walmart workers and trailer park living. Her (vague) prescription for wholesome social change is expanded educational opportunity and removing "artificial barriers."

The trends Ehrenreich identifies in 1989 have not only continued but intensified. The distance between rich and poor, socially and economically, has increased. The professional middle class has lost much of what social conscience it once had and movement toward an equalitarian society, discernible in 1960, has been reversed. Is that a bad thing? I think so.

Smallchief

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars She is a genius May 27, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really learned so much from this book. The unfortunate thing is that she wrote it in 1989 and I don't think she's planning another one... but it's amazing to just read the history from the perspecive of a person in 1989. She spots some very bad trends in corporate america / industrial society which have subsequently worsened now that it's 15 years later. A lot of her predictions (or subtle suggestions at what might go wrong) have come true - and it's not surprising because her hypotheses and analyses are based on solid data. There was some passage where she talked about CEOs getting paid absurd salaries like 650k and she didn't see an end to the rise... well, she hit that nail on the head.

In "nickel and dimed" you really heard her voice, but this book is very very factual - and she interjects with her everpresent wit now & again - but not as often as her recent work. Her writing style is an absolutely beautiful combination of wry wit, confidence, vast intelligence, humor, and deep understanding of the issues (through research). I would LOVE to read a 2004 version of this book but I don't know if it's top of mind for her these days. Either way - you still learn a lot from this book. I love it. I wish I were a sociology major in college now so I'd have someone to talk about this book with! It's DEFINITELY worth finding someone with an out of print copy to buy from. The book is priceless.