Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do (Paperback)

by Studs Terkel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post
First class . . . The talk in Working is good talk-earthy, passionate, honest, sometimes tender, sometimes crisp, juicy as reality, seasoned with experience . . . It is a pleasure to join the hallelujah chorus.

Review
A deep penetration of American thought and feeling . . . A celebration of individuals . . . A masterpiece. -- Los Angeles Times

An enormous amount of exciting material. . . . An incredible abundance of marvelous beings. . . . A very special electricity and emotional power. -- The New York Times Book Review

An impressive achievement . . . A very valuable document. No journalist alive wields a tape recorded as effectively as Studs Terkel. -- Newsweek

Remarkable . . . the range is enormous. . . . Work is the theme and we learn a lot about these trades. -- The Wall Street Journal

Splendid . . . Important . . . Rich and fascinating . . . The people we meet are not digits in a poll but real people with real names who share their anecdotes, adventures, and aspirations with us. -- Business Week

The real American experience . . . The poetry of real people . . . The hardness of real lives . . . A grand subject and a splendid book. -- Chicago Daily News

[A] magnificent book . . .. A work of art. To read it is to hear America talking. -- Boston Globe

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: New Press; Later printing edition (February 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565843428
• ISBN-13: 978-1565843424
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,809 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, moving, insightful first-person narratives, October 6, 2000

By	"pierce_inverarity" (silicon valley) - See all my reviews

I had always meant to read "Working," but had never gotten around to it. Then I picked up another book loosely based on it ("Gig"), so decided to get the original "Working" as well.

"Working" is moving and brilliant and a million times better than "Gig." Somehow, Terkel lets the people do their own talking, but it's never monotonous, never repetitive, and they always have profound things to say. Reading these people tell their stories is mesmerizing. Terkel steps in just the right amount, organizing the stories into themes (sometimes very creative ones), but never drowning out his interviewees' voices.

Although "Working" came out in 1972, it feels surprisingly recent. The world of work hasn't changed all that much in thirty years. Still relevant, still entertaining, still thought-provoking. And the professions are indexed in the back, so one needn't read them in order.

66 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "dangerous" social critique, October 24, 2001

By	Barbara R. Saunders "Writer" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I feel compelled to respond to brothersjudddotcom.

Nowhere in Terkel's book do I get the notion that he believes people "don't want to work." I imagine Terkel loves his own work. The subject of the book is the way that most jobs (even "good" jobs) have become dehumanizing. Robotizing.

One of his interviewees, a filmmaker, comments on an "educational film" she saw, one intended to inspire "ghetto kids" to pursue their dreams. She remarks that the "most (financially) successful" subject in the film, a businessman, spoke about his money and his possessions while a "less successful" sculptor led a tour of his studio and spoke about his actual work. She says that she feel people are being deprived of the potential joys in work when we are trained to focus too much on status and salary.

He also interviews actor Rip Torn, who laments that actors are expected to be "shills" to tailor their performances to the selling of products. For example, Torn tells a story about being required to smoke cigarettes rather than cigars in a particular role. Historically, the character would not have smoked cigarettes; the sponsor was a cigarette company. Torn felt that both his art and his intelligence, as well as that of the audience, were sold out by this demand.

Far from being "badly dated," Terkel's critique is monstrously accurate today. Now, as contrasted with the 1970s, in many families, both parents "devote" 10+ hours to power games at work at the expense of family time, personal health, community, etc.

I believe that Terkel believes meaningful work to be essential to the human spirit. Problem is, as amount of work increases, meaning seems to be decreasing.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We see what we want to see, July 27, 2003

By	Scott R (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Working has been my favorite book - likely the book that had the most implicit impact on the way I think - for many years. I pick it up every year and read a random section, put it back down, and pick it up again. Real stories, genuinely collected.

The comments are interesting - everyone interprets what Terkel gathered in a way that meets their own worldview. Not too surprising, but read it yourself, and draw your own conclusions - maybe even new ones.