Gig: Americans Talk about Their Jobs Paperback - 2001

First line

I'm sixty-six years old and I'm a greeter at the Wal-Mart Super Center in Columbia, Missouri, just off of Highway 63.

From the jacket flap

"Amazing . . . a gem of a book that uses only the strength of the human voice to tell an American story -- sometimes dark, always fascinating."
-- "USA Today "The accounts are wonderfully revealing, with gritty and almost shockingly honest detail. For all their variety, they weave a cohesive, passion-filled story of what people bring to their work. It's an addictive read."
-- Harvard Business Review's Best Business Books of 2000 "Keen, disturbing, and deeply felt . . . the stories in Gig deliver a more rousing political wallop than those in Working . . . remarkable and strangely moving."
-- Susan Faludi, "The Village Voice "I love this book! It's surprising and entertaining and makes the world seem like a bigger and more interesting place. "Gig manages to document everyday life and give pure narrative pleasure at the same time. One feels proud to live in the same country as the people in this book."
-- Ira Glass, host of This American Life "A fascinating compilation of what the American workforce has to say about itself."
-- George Plimpton "Eye-opening . . . more revealing than any theories a sociologist could concoct."
-- "The Industry Standard "Entertaining, sobering, validating . . . Ordinary people discuss their jobs with extraordinary candor."
-- "US Weekly "In the age of advanced spin, this book accomplishes a very rare thing. It actually lets workers speak for themselves. . . . The result makes for a fascinating read."
-- Andrew Ross, director, American Studies Program at New York University "Emotional and eye-opening, each compelling description offers insight about the job itself and, more important, an intimateview of a single human life."
-- "Austin Chronicle "An engaging, humorous, revealing, and refreshingly human look at the bizarre, life-threatening, and delightfully humdrum exploits of everyone from sports heroes to sex workers."
-- Douglas Rushkoff, author of "Coercion, "Ecstasy Club, and "Media Virus