Customer Reviews

Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Briefly, this book conducts about 100 interviews with people with different jobs that truly run the gamut. UPS worker to mega-producer. Porn star to funeral home director.

I'd say about one in every seven is absolutely fascinating and eye-opening. 5 in 7 are just good reading and then one in seven drags. If you're interested in the fabric that makes up amercian society, you'll love this book at much as I did. Some of the interviews are just shocking, like the UPS guy who gives better service to the companies with the best porn in the bathroom.

Also, each interview is about 5-7 pages, so if you're someone who is pressed for time, it's easy to pick up and put down quickly.

Overall, a great read.

It's too bad it took so long for someone to put together another book like Studs Terkel's "Working." "Gig" is a collection of interviews with over 120 Americans who talk about their jobs. The questions are removed, so you end up with 3- and 4-page monologues. It's an effective technique, letting each person describe their working life in their own words.

The editors retained the references to sex and a lot of swearing, which is good. That's how people talk, so you might as well leave it in. The degree of honesty isn't reflected in the tone of the interviews, however --- the people might feel free to swear, but they don't feel free to complain about bosses, insecurity about layoffs, being stuck in dead-end jobs, bad pay, poor career choices, illegal business practices, or annoying co-workers. All of these topics get *some* coveage, but only enough to remind you how rare they are. Frankly, I think the book is too positive, with far too many people saying they love their jobs and couldn't be happier.

You should read it for yourself and see if you get the same reaction. It's a very easy book to read; every interview is over before it can get boring. Everyone has a unique story to tell. The range of professions is wide, giving you a broad spectrum of people to listen to.

... times have changed.

Reading WORKING years ago was a profound and emotional experience for me. In being presented with the dignity of the most "ordinary" of lives I felt like I got to know everyone in America and, further, I felt I'd been made a part of the united states (note the lowercase) in my own ordinary way.

GIG reprises the concept and, like WORKING, is endlessly fascinating, funny, horrifying, and bold. I think it succeeds admirably -- BUT -- I think it's fundamentally a different animal from WORKING, by virtue of the fact that the world has changed out from under the essential idea of the book(s).

While Americans in particular have always tried to maintain a distinction betwen who they "are" and what they "do", this distinction seems far stronger these days than it did in the post-war era. The jobs described in WORKING were the places the narrators had made for themselves in the world -- not necessarily permanent, fulfilling, or by choice -- but the result of an attempt to find, or accept, a place in society. This is why the stories were of lives and people, not merely functions.

In contrast, the jobs in GIG are just that: jobs. As I read it, the narrators make a clear and solid statement that they do not put as much of themselves in their jobs as did the people of the WORKING era (note that "gig" specifically means a temporary engagement). They go out of their way to make it clear that jobs are essentially disposable, interchangeable, often impossible to feel any respect for: essentially, distinct from what they really want to "be." I have no doubt this is true -- the result of our American definition of "success" in purely financial terms -- and it's not the editor's fault that people do not use their work to describe their place in the world anymore, but -- they don't.

Admittedly I'm generalizing -- but on the whole, society has changed, as have the people in it (vice-versa?) and as a result GIG cannot contain the emotional power of its predecessor. It's an unfortunate aspect of the increasing disposability of American culture -- a price the book is paying despite its great intentions; but when you're finished with GIG, you may feel enlightened, but you will not feel changed. For that, WORKING remains the fortunate product of its time, and still the more deeply affecting of the pair.

I want to start by saying this is not a bad book and the heart of the editors are in the right place. But I looked back at my copy of "Working" to see why the interviews read differently, and found this quote from the introduction by Studs Terkel,

"I had a general idea of the kind of people I wanted to see; who, in reflecting on their personal condition would touch on the circumstances of their fellows." (xx)

I don't know whether this weakness in Gigs comes from the relative youth and inexperience of the interviewers, or from our era where people tend to think of jobs as gigs that they will only inhabit temporarily, until something better comes along...Each individual interviewed seems to have plenty of time to talk (4-9 pages) but most individuals don't reflect on their fellow workers, they talk primarily about themselves and their own accomplishments, and the all encompassing drive to "get ahead." For this reason, it's more superficial, and not as fun to read. The rhythm of the language is right, the casual conversations, but I felt like every interview I read in Working I walked away with a piece of blood and flesh or soul of the individual, and here, although the effort is worthy, the result is not quite the same. I'm not sure if this is the editors' fault or a sign of the times, but I couldn't help noticing it...

'Gig' isn't a book to read cover-to-cover, but rather one to be cherry-picked and enjoyed in small doses. The real stars of the book are the interviewers and editors who have done a wonderful job tracking down a diverse group of people, then coaxing the stories out of them. You, the reader, are presented with what appears to be a monologue, but you can be sure that these texts are actually pieced-together answers from some very skillful questioning.

What really struck me was the juxtaposition between those people who would appear to have a lot going for them but have just been mailing it in vs. those people who have everything going against them, but see the glass not simply as half full, but overflowing.

An example of the latter: Janice Lejeune - a merchandise handler. Born deaf. Legally blind through a condition called Usher's Syndrome. Recently divorced. Kids grown and moved out. And you think you've faced challenges?

On the surface, it would be very easy for this woman to give up and simply rue her fate. Yet, she finds value and self-worth in work. She sees herself as an example of what blind/deaf people can do. It's about the most inspirational thing I've ever read. I have chills recounting her story even as I write this.

'Gig' has that type of effect - I really didn't expect a book with such power. These tales will stick with you.

What makes this book a good product of social science is that it captured people in every kind of job and stayed true to their character; all of the "um, like" and honesty is unedited and it's just like being there to watch the interviews.

It's as cheerful as the positive Wal-Mart greeter and crude as the cleaner-uppers for homocides, who talk about having to change the mattress someone had died in and finding the body had begun to rot, infesting the entire bed with maggots. Whether they're escorts, porn stars, strippers, a transvestite prostitute or web mistress, these people provide personal reflection of their lives and provide an excellent study. Before you decide what kind of occupation you want to go into, read Gig!

This is a very interesting book, consisting of a series of 3-7 page interviews of people talking about their jobs. From corporate lawyer to tranvestite prostitute; from McDonald's Employee to CEO to professional hockey player; from UPS delivery person to Lutheran pastor this book runs the gamut of jobs. The jobs are not put in the standard Q&A interview format where the reader can see what question is asked and how the interviewee responded, but rather put in a narrative form, making for a much quicker and enjoyable read.

One of the best aspects of this book was comparing and contrasting the various jobs: how did the person end up with this job; what are his/her duties; what's daily life on the job like; what's the best and worst part of the job; do you like your job (nearly all answered yes); what the job holder's career goals are. As someone currently looking at a career change, this book was not only entertaining, but useful in getting me to think about what other kind of stuff is out there (I had already eliminated "transvestite prostitute" from my list but this book was useful in strengthing my resolve to stick to that decision).

This book follows a very simple formula. People across a wide variety of jobs were asked to talk about their work and the interviews are presented, with minimal editing. Thus, the structure mimics that of Studs Terkel's 1972 classic "Working" Although there are a couple of famous names (Jerry Bruckheimer, Heidi Klum), the great majority of the contributions are from 'ordinary people'.

It's remarkable how well things turned out. The book is wide-ranging, consistently interesting, fun to read, and the contributions ring true. Almost every interview contained something that was surprising, funny, touching, or downright fascinating - many combined all these elements. I think the book's success rests on two factors: the editors' broadly inclusive, imaginative approach to the selection of `jobs' to include, and their wisdom in adopting a relatively `hands-off' editing style, allowing the contributors' distinctive voices to come through.

There is an appealing wit to the book's organization as well. In the opening essay, the reader is welcomed by a Walmart's `greeter'. Almost 700 pages later, Beverly Valentine, a funeral director from Mount Vernon, NY, offers us some closure in the final essay. There are very few duds among the 120 or so contributions in between.

The scope is far-ranging. Contributions are grouped under the following broad headings:

* Workers and Managers
* Goods and Services
* Buyers and Sellers
* Transportation
* Plants and Animals
* Food
* Media
* Artists and Entertainers
* Sports and Gambling
* Sex
* Children and Teachers
* Lawyers and the Law
* Government and Military
* Bodies and Souls

The relatively bland nature of these headings doesn't do justice to the quirkiness of the individual essays. Kudos to the editors for having the imagination to invite representation from the following `professions':

* corporate headhunter
* corporate identity consultant
* clutter consultant
* crime scene cleaner
* drug dealer
* dog trainer
* food stylist
* paparazzo
* television guest coordinator
* heavy metal roadie
* Elvis interpreter
* bookie
* porn star
* adult webmistress
* transvestite prostitute
* doula
* FBI agent
* prisoner
* army psych ops specialist
* lobbyist
* psychiatric rehabilitation therapist
* telephone psychic

Unlike, for example, in Susan Orlean's `The Bullfighter Checks her Makeup', which focuses on the unusual, more standard professions (autoworker, sales rep, waitress, journalist, high school basketball coach, teacher, trial lawyer, nurse, minister) are well-represented among the profiles in this book. It is heartening (and maybe a little surprising) that the great majority of people interviewed are passionate about their work. Though not all, by any means - one of the funniest profiles is the UPS driver (`usually, when I'm out there, I just do everything I can to not actually work. .... on my stops I watch TV, make phone calls, flirt with secretaries, call my friends, go shopping, read the newspaper, go swimming in the summer at a motel pool' - and that's when he's not checking out the porn and donuts at his favorite delivery sites).

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the florist: `it's like people come to me at the important occasions in their lives .... I think what I do brings beauty into people's lives'.

But the great majority of profiles in this book held my interest, and a surprising number were quite moving. I highly recommend this collection.

This book is a great show of how American people are in reality. Reading this book has been enjoyable as well as informative. As a journalist, I cannot imagine the amount of effort it must have taken to get the types of interviews done in this book accomplished. I feel like I know the person after I read their chapter. It is definitely worth the time and money. Gig is one of my most valuable books.

Gig is great. Studs Terkel's Work, though an amazing contribution to American literature and the understanding of how other people in our country live, could be pretty dense, especially to modern readers. Quite a few moderns saw it as useless because of its age and how antiquated it seemed; they ask why would you need to read a book about, like, an elevator operator? Gig, however, is a thoroughly modern (in a good way, though!) tour of the modern american workplace. have you ever wondered what the life of a telephone psychic is like? who clean up crime scenes? how do FBI agents work? what are modern steel plants like? even if you haven't asked those questions, I'm sure you'll be delighted to find the answers out. They're all in this book-- just flip around.