Nickel and Dimed

On (Not) Getting By in America

Barbara Ehrenreich

A Metropolitan/Holt Paperbacks Book

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The bestselling, landmark work of undercover reportage, now updated

Acclaimed as an instant classic upon publication, Nickel and Dimed has sold more than 1.5 million copies and become a staple of classroom reading. Chosen for “one book” initiatives across the country, it has fueled nationwide campaigns for a living wage. Funny, poignant, and passionate, this revelatory firsthand account of life in low-wage America—the story of Barbara Ehrenreich’s attempts to eke out a living while working as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart associate—has become an essential part of the nation’s political discourse.

Now, in a new afterword, Ehrenreich shows that the plight of the underpaid has in no way eased: with fewer jobs available, deteriorating work conditions, and no pay increase in sight, Nickel and Dimed is more relevant than ever.

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Book Excerpts

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Introduction: Getting Ready

The idea that led to this book arose in comparatively sumptuous circumstances. Lewis Lapham, the editor of Harper’s, had taken me out for a $30 lunch at some understated French country-style place to discuss future articles I might write for his magazine. I had the salmon and field greens, I think, and was pitching him some ideas having to do with pop culture when the conversation drifted to one of my more familiar themes—poverty. How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled? How, in particular, we wondered, were the roughly four million

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Reviews

Praise for Nickel and Dimed

". . . you will read this explosive little book cover to cover and pass it on to all your friends and relatives."
—Diana Henriques, The New York Times [Business Section]

"Jarring, full of riveting grit . . . This book is already unforgettable."
—Susannah Meadows, Newsweek

"Angry, amusing . . . An in-your-face expose."
—Anne Colamosca, Business Week

"With grace and wit, Ehrenreich discovers . . . the irony of being nickel and dimed during unprecedented prosperity."
—Eileen Boris, The Boston Globe

"Ehrenreich is a superb and relaxed stylist [with] a tremendous sense of rueful humor."
—Stephen Metcalf, Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Barbara Ehrenreich . . . is our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism."
—Dorothy Gallagher, The New York Times Book

"Reading Ehrenreich is good for the soul."
—Molly Ivins

"Ehrenreich is passionate, public, hotly lucid, and politically engaged."
Chicago Tribune

"Ehrenreich's scorn withers, her humor stings, and her radical light shines on."
The Boston Globe

"One of today's most original writers."
The New York Times

"Barbara Ehrenreich is smart, provocative, funny, and sane in a world that needs more of all four."
—Diane Sawyer


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About the Author

Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich is the bestselling author of Bait and Switch, Bright-sided, This Land Is Their Land, Dancing in the Streets and Blood Rites, among others. A frequent contributor to Harper's and The Nation, she has also been a columnist at The New York Times and Time magazine. She is the winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize for Current Interest and ALA Notable Books for Nonfiction.  Ehrenreich was born in Butte, Montana, when it was still a bustling mining town. She studied physics at Reed College, and earned a Ph.D. in cell biology from Rockefeller University. Rather than going into laboratory work, she got involved in activism, and soon devoted herself to writing her innovative journalism. She lives and works in Florida.

Barbara Ehrenreich

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Available Formats and Book Details

Nickel and Dimed
On (Not) Getting By in America
Barbara Ehrenreich

Award

ALA Alex Awards Winner (Adult for Young Adults), L.A. Times Book Prize - Winner, Book Sense Book of the Year Award - Nominee, Christopher Awards - Nominee, Christopher Awards - Winner

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Henry Holt and Co.
A Metropolitan/Holt Paperbacks Book
June 2008
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780805088380
ISBN10: 0805088385
5 1/4 x 8 inches, 256 pages
$15.00

Hardcover

Hardcover
Henry Holt and Co.
Metropolitan Books
May 2001
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780805063882
ISBN10: 0805063889
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 224 pages
$23.00

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Henry Holt and Co.
A Metropolitan/Holt Paperbacks Book
May 2002
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780805063899
ISBN10: 0805063897
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 240 pages
$13.00

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Picador
August 2011
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312626686
ISBN10: 0312626681
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 256 pages
$15.00

e-Book Agency

e-Book Agency
Henry Holt and Co.
Metropolitan Books
April 2010
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429926645
ISBN10: 1429926643
224 pages
$9.99
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