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A Working Stiff's Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember Paperback – April 8, 2003

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Iain Levison (Author)
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4.2 out of 5 stars 35 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 164 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (April 8, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812967941
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812967944
  • Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.4 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,286,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsAn engaging and fun read....
By Monica J. Kern VINE VOICE on April 4, 2005
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This book should be required reading for any liberal arts major. Levison does a terrific job detailing, in a hilarious fashion, the teeny-tiny downside to a college education that the glossy brochures never pointed out: Just because you get a degree does not necessarily mean you will graduate with marketable skills an employer would find desirable. Instead, you may be forced to endure, as Levison does, the indignities of a seemingly endless procession of McJobs.

An added benefit to making this required reading is that undergraduates would probably find this book a more enjoyable read than, say, "Nickel and Dimed," a more scholarly piece of nonfiction that makes the same basic point though with nowhere close to the same humor quotient. Levison is clearly a talented writer, and my primary complaint with the book was that it was too danged short; I wanted to hear about more of his 42 jobs.

Employers ought to read this book, too, as it may give them insight to their perennial complaint about high levels of employee turnover. Levison points out with great clarity that people quit jobs when those jobs don't offer reasonable incentive to stay, or when supervisors treat them so demeaningly that unemployment is preferable. I must confess, however, to not buying Levison's rationalization for stealing from one particular employer. Stealing is wrong, no matter how irritating a supervisor is. But the respect I lost for him in that chapter was regained in the chapter describing what he went through working for the Alaska fishing companies. The next time any of my undergraduates whine about my class being too demanding, I will be tempted to hand them a copy of Levison's book and tell them "This is REAL work.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsPungent Slacker Take on Job Market
By M. JEFFREY MCMAHON TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on September 22, 2003
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Levison's book belongs to the classic "work sucks" canon, including the film Office Space, Bentley Little's horror novel The Ignored, and Magnus Mills' mysterious novel The Restraint of Beasts. As Levison recounts his hellish jobs, we see a man too smart and too proud to subject himself to Groupthink, "team player" sycophantism, sadistic, arbitrary employers, and jobs that are clearly designed to humiliate, dehumanize, and impoversih the employee. His stories and anecdotes make for compelling, page-turning reading and forces you in the end to question what you're willing to put up just so you can tell yourself you're "gainfully employed."
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5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic
By SedentaryAthlete on April 19, 2006
Format: Paperback
I disagree with anyone who says that the author needs to get a "real life" and a job in his field. He tells it like it is. A college diploma often is just a magically expensive flyswatter unless you miraculously picked a field that is still thriving years after you decided on a major.

My only complaint is that he wasn't harsh enough about working in the upper-class store. In my experience, the customers can be brutal and harsh, caring more about "cruelty-free" products than "cruelty-free" employees. Sure, those free-range chickens lived a good life, but what about the bagboy you just insulted?

This needs to be a series, each written by a different author. One book alone needs to be devoted to the world of telemarketing or call centers.
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4.0 out of 5 starsWell written and entertaining
By A Customer on August 15, 2003
Format: Paperback
This was a book I found to be very entertaining. It is pretty short so it is not too much of a time commitment. It does not describe all 42 (30/9/3) jobs that the title suggests, it just goes into detail on several (maybe six or seven, I can't remember for sure) of the jobs from fishing in Alaska to working for a moving company and working for a high end grocery store. An easy read that is worth the time, pretty funny book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsBy All Means, Maintain Your Sense of Humor
By Carioca56 on March 7, 2014
Format: Paperback
I bought this book at the Tunel de Tempo, the local used bookstore here in Curitiba, Brazil. Anytime I can get anything good in English, I pounce on it. All I had to do was to read the reviews by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and I knew I had a keeper. So, I shelled out about the equivalent of two dollars US (5 reals), and now it is mine. Only took one day to read it, which is pretty good for me, as I am one of the slowest readers in the world.

What is really good about this book is that everything that your read about really happened, although Mr. Levison probably took it upon himself (writers call it artistic license) to exaggerate. What this book tells us is, 1), the capitalistic system is screwed up, and 2), it is still probably better than standing in a breadline somewhere in pre soviet break-up Russia/Europe and 3), some people are out to get you and the rest are just trying to survive. Not necessarily in that order.

The part where he has to "push fish" through a hole in the bottom of a ship rolling on the swells of the Bering Sea is both hilarious and scary, as it reminded me of some room in a mental hospital, or the place where they waterboard Al Qaeda prisoners, only one does not have a "panic button" there, whereas this submarine room is full of panic buttons. The supervisor's last words, before our intrepid author starts "pushing fish," is "try not to press the panic button."

Our intrepid author voyages to a film shoot somewhere in Manhattan, where he essentially does what he is told, tries to help, and then decides that his help is not needed. This, however, does not prevent the director and sound engineer from yelling at him.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

a must read

Published 2 months ago by raffestin
1.0 out of 5 starsLevison Stabs the Working Man in the Back

Recently someone recommended that I read A WORKING STIFF'S MANIFESTO by Iain Levison. So I went to the Internet and located a copy and bought it. Read more

Published 15 months ago by James Robert Smith
4.0 out of 5 starsI liked the book

I liked the book, although it might offend some right-wind skewers, the guy is funny telling things, he has the type of humor that one experiences as a teenager when listening when... Read more

Published 19 months ago by F. Segura
3.0 out of 5 starsNo where near 30 jobs mentioned

There were a few amusing moments in this one. The author spent too much time on petty theft from his employers and not enough time on the more interesting stories that are a part... Read more

Published on May 3, 2013 by Penny Sandstrom
5.0 out of 5 starsdrudge

An American's experience of different jobs, including a hair-rising spell in Alaska fisheries. The American ethic of work takes a bashing in this book where most jobs are... Read more

Published on January 18, 2013 by Henri Theureau
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Best Example in the World of Why Not To Get an English Degree

Had the author of this very funny book not written this book, I suspect he would still be surviving on the low wage/hard work jobs that he engaged in and discusses in the book. Read more

Published on June 30, 2010 by Frederick S. Goethel
4.0 out of 5 starsWorkin' 9 to 5 what a way to make a livin

I read this doozy over a year ago but I still remember enjoying it immensely. The story: twenty something gets a liberal arts uni degree and struggles to find work though from no... Read more

Published on May 17, 2010 by Sam Quixote
5.0 out of 5 starsThis book rules

Hilarious, insightful, even poignant. I highly recommend it to anyone and am purchasing copies for each niece and nephew upon graduation from high school. Read more

Published on December 19, 2009 by Sketch
5.0 out of 5 starsNon-stop laughs

I haven't laughed this hard while reading in a while.
Hilarious stories that i related to, portrayed with clear,
succinct writing. Read more

Published on July 2, 2009 by Diverse
4.0 out of 5 starsHilarious

I loved this book. For a book snob, I have to give it its due. It is simple, succinct, unapologetic and really, really funny. Check this one out.

Published on April 13, 2009 by Book Snob

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