James Fallows talks with Barbara Ehrenreich about her new book Nickel and Dimed: ‘(L)et me explain that your book is the account of three
month-long episodes of attempting to live entirely on earnings from
$7- or $8-per-hour jobs. You show up in low-wage cities and try to
get on your feet, like someone “graduating” from welfare to work.
One of many intriguing aspects is the juggling of three challenges:
landing a job (not that hard, in the “tight” economy of the late
nineties); doing the job (sometimes quite hard, as you make vivid);
and finding a place to live (nearly impossible, for reasons we will
get to). The account is realistic and sobering.’ The Atlantic [via MetaFilter]