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Some of the jobs are boring and simple, but the people describing them are interesting,even fascinating. This book offers a glimpse into what "other people" do for a living and how it defines or defined their life. There are some profound statements by people who have never cracked a textbook in their adult lives. All walks of life, from CEO of a major company to prostitute, anything in between.Each job is a 3-4 page chapter in the interviewees' own words with,it would seem, minimal editing. A look into what your neighbor might do or somebody with whom you share little connection with (the guy who runs the fruit stand comes to mind) Since it was written in 2000 or 2001, some of it's a bit dated. This book could be a good starting point for anyone thinking of changing careers or before they go to college. It's a bit vulgar at times, so it's not for everyone or every age group, but it's a fascinating read through America.As soon as I read one job description, I had to buy it.This book is a buy and I'll be looking for the Studs Terkel book on the same subject matter.
I definitely recommend this book to persons who fit the title. this book reminds me of "The Way Things Work" in the sense that it talks about how people came to working where they are at their given time. It has stories/interviews from Walmart Greeters to Porn Stars. It has a wide range so that one would get a general idea.
I bought this book used about a year ago, and I enjoyed it so much that I bought another copy on the Kindle. It provides short to moderate-length descriptions based on interviews of people doing all sorts of jobs. In this it is clearly similar to Studs Terkel's Working. Most of the people interviewed had something to teach me about human interaction and personal motivation.
An engrossing and insightful book, with first-person accounts of what it's like to work in more than a hundred different job categories - from ambulance chaser to street walker, from psychiatrist to mortician, from lobbyist to commercial fisherman, from CEO to clutter consultant, and more. Not only is it fascinating, sometimes eye-opening personal reading, but because it provides such rich detail about what the job entails, what it's like to do it every day, what it took to get the job, whether people want to quit or stay and why, it should also be in every high school library, every vocational guidance center, every public library. There is no better way to learn what a job involves than hearing it directly from someone on the job, and "Gig" offers an enjoyable, accessible, easy way to find out.
Almost every interview contained something that was surprising, funny, touching, or downright fascinating - many combined all these elements. 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 psychicUnlike, 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. The book is wide-ranging, consistently interesting, fun to read, and the contributions ring true. 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. This book follows a very simple formula. 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. 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 SoulsThe relatively bland nature of these headings doesn't do justice to the quirkiness of the individual essays. There are very few duds among the 120 or so contributions in between.The scope is far-ranging.
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. In the opening essay, the reader is welcomed by a Walmart's `greeter'. People across a wide variety of jobs were asked to talk about their work and the interviews are presented, with minimal editing. It is heartening (and maybe a little surprising) that the great majority of people interviewed are passionate about their work. 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. Almost 700 pages later, Beverly Valentine, a funeral director from Mount Vernon, NY, offers us some closure in the final essay. 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 highly recommend this collection.
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