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Article: NONFICTION; Stuck in the middle; "Nickel and Dimed" journalist Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover but doesn't quite uncover the desperate situation of the middle class in today's workplace.(ENTERTAINMENT)(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- September 25, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John Freeman
Special to the Star Tribune
After decades of toil as a muckraking journalist, Barbara Ehrenreich finally broke through to a wide readership in 2001 for "Nickel and Dimed," her account of spending two years "undercover" as a low-wage worker in the United States.
Ehrenreich did everything from wait tables at $2.43 an hour in Key West, Fla., to clerk at Wal-Mart in the Twin Cities area for $7 and change. She even took on second jobs. As it turns out, what sociologists say is true: Work doesn't work anymore, at least in some parts of this country. Ehrenreich simply could not make ends meet.
This was not news to many ...