Customer Reviews

Odd Jobs: Portraits of Unusual Occupations

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While waiting for my wife to browse quilting books at Powell's book store, I wandered down an aisle and breezed through an entertaining book that caught my eye... Odd Jobs: Portraits Of Unusual Occupations by Nancy Rica Schiff.

Schiff came across a person with an unusual job one day... the official timekeeper at a horse race track. She then started wondering about other "unusual" jobs that people have, and set out to find those jobs and photograph the people who do them. The result is this book. It's not large, only 152 pages. The format is a set of opposite pages for each job. The description of the job and person is on the left, along with a picture of the job and person on the right. And we're talking some really unusual jobs... How about a condom tester held by a lady who is definitely old enough to be your grandmother? A person who milks venom from snakes. A mortuary beautician who prepares bodies for their "final viewing". Dog walker, bull inseminator, tampon tester... all things that need to be done, but you probably don't really think about (or *want* to think about) the people or skills it takes to do them.

So if you're feeling that your job is horrible and you'd like to do something different, take 15 minutes or so and glance through this book. You'll either come back with some new employment possibilities or figure out that your job isn't so bad after all!

I think this excellent book is appropriate for any reader teenager or beyond. At a time when jobs are scarce and people are searching for new employment, 'Odd Jobs' allows the reader, whether young or old, to become aware of a vast array of jobs that are inventive and alternative.
One must be resourcful during this ecomony. Odd Jobs is done with a sense of humor and captured the teenage market by having been selected by a panel of young librarians at the New York Public Library for their Teenage List 2003.

Funny and fascinating stuff. I bought four copies and two of them are intended for my twin teen granddaughters with the idea that it is funny and serious all at the same time. It will certainly open their career choices to "outside the box" occupations.

Yes, these are really funny things to read about. The sweetly proud faces tell of the pride of these holders of unusual jobs. I actually visited a packaging operation where ladies were testing condoms on steel "devices" and I was delighted to see a similar job shown in Ms. Schiff's hilarious book.

One reviewer myopically advised school librarians to not buy this book because it was for adults. That's pretty strange advice to this reader who was exposed to the French Impressionists and the wonders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other highly "adult" topics when I was a boy. This early appreciation for the unusual things in our world provided me with the freedom to choose from a bigger buffet of options. I used to sample a number of unusual occupations with pride instead of embarrassment. The beauty of Ms. Schiff's book is that it's both really funny and eye-opening at the same time. What could be a better occupation carousel of the unusual for a students wondering what they might want to be in life?

Buy it for your teenagers. It's a perfectly charming and meaty gift for all ages.

C. H.
Current author and former Ford plant 2nd shift "emblem slammer." (My job was to just snap the Ford Emblem under the hood ornament of every car leaving the Edgewater Assembly Plant.)

This funny little ditty will make you feel better about your current job. If you collect the unusual books add this to your collection. You'll be chuckling to at least some of the outrageous and for real really odd jobs that exist, like-armpit sniffer, duck walker and doggy breath wiffer. It comes with humorous photos and delirious profiles. This would be a guaranteed conversation piece on any occasion.

When I spotted this book on the shelf, I immediately knew that I had to buy it. It contains a series of photographs of people performing unusual jobs along with a brief description of the job and the person. The cover photo is of odor judge Betty Lyons sniffing the armpit of a man. That photo definitely qualifies as an attention grabber. Her job is to test the efficacy of deodorant.
Other jobs depicted in the book are:

*) Dinosaur duster, he dusts the dinosaur bones in a museum.
*) Mohel, a man who circumcises male Jewish babies.
*) Barbie's dress designer.
*) Solfeggist, a person who writes down the notes of a musical composition while listening to it.
*) Diener, a person who prepares bodies for autopsies.
*) Duckmaster, a man who walks a small flock of ducks from their home on the roof of a hotel to the fountain where they spend their day.
*) The headmistress of a school for men who want to cross-dress.
*) The keeper of professional hockey's Stanley Cup.

I strongly recommend this book for light reading. I started it and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

Odd jobs--portraits of unusual occupations is the perfect gift! It's a little jewel of a book, filled with wonderful photos and amusing profiles. Everything in this book about work--works!

I bought this for my husband who appreciates black and white photography. His first comment was how good the photography is. Also good for some chuckles.

I received this book as a gift recently and my friends and I have shared so many laughs from the interesting conversation it always seems to spark. I keep it on my coffee table, but I sure would recommend that any doctor's office/waiting room/classroom should not be without it. I love to read about people and this is definitely a great find as Ms.Rica Schiff's portraits and odd job bios paint a colorful picture of the occupational choices we have in our lives. I already plan to stuff stockings with this book at Christmas this year. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

I ordered this as a gift for a friend, she loves it! Says it is very funny albeit a one-time read.

This is a really fun book and it will open your eyes to some of the crazy occupations out there. If you like it, check out "Odd Jobs: 101 Ways to Make an Extra Buck" -- it details good, bad, and really bizarre jobs (like worm farmer) that virtually anyone can get. Either of these books make great graduation gifts.