Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich is an American author and political activist who describes herself as "a myth buster by trade" and has been called "a veteran muckraker" by The New Yorker. During the 1980s and early 1990s she was a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She is a widel…
What is the LitCharts study guide on nickel and Dimed?
Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. A concise biography of Barbara Ehrenreich plus historical and literary context for Nickel and Dimed. A quick-reference summary: Nickel and Dimed on a single page.
What is nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich about?
Nickel and Dimed. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from her perspective as an undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the United States.
What year does nickel and Dimed take place?
Nickel and Dimed. The events related in the book took place between spring 1998 and summer 2000. The book was first published in 2001 by Metropolitan Books. An earlier version appeared as an article in the January 1999 issue of Harper's magazine. Ehrenreich later wrote a companion book, Bait and Switch (published September 2005),...
How do I Track themes in nickel and Dimed?
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Nickel and Dimed, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Barbara chooses Maine because of how white it is—from college students and professors to the hotel housekeepers and cab drivers. She feels she’ll fit in as an English-speaking Caucasian in search of low-wage work.
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Who wrote Nickel and Dimed?
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from her perspective as an undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the United States. The events related in the book took place between spring 1998 and summer 2000.
Who is the waitress on the cover of Nickel and Dimed?
The book's cover features a waitress, Kimmie Jo Christianson, giving a worried look over her shoulder. The photo of Christianson was taken in 1986 for an unrelated Fortune cover. After the release of Nickel and Dimed, Christianson filed suit against the book's publishers, arguing that they used her picture without her consent. In 2007, a judge ruled that the lawsuit could go ahead, because the cover was not part of Ehrenreich's narrative and was part of the publisher's selling of the book. The case was later dismissed as part of a settlement.
What is the contrast between Nickel and Dimed?
Nickel and Dimed makes an explicit contrast between the experience of individual workers and the corporations for which they work. Indeed, the “corporation” is portrayed as a shadowy, distant entity that initially seems to have little impact on the daily working life of Barbara and her colleagues.
What is Barbara's goal in Nickel and Dimed?
In Nickel and Dimed, Barbara sets out to experience the working life of low-wage laborers first-hand. She is, of course, interested in poverty in general—as a journalist, Barbara had covered the topic extensively before writing this book—but here she is particularly concerned with the plight of the working poor.
What was Barbara Ehrenreich's goal in writing Nickel and Dimed?
When Barbara Ehrenreich set out to write the book that would become Nickel and Dimed, her stated goal was pretty straightforward: to see if she could pay for rent, food, and other bills as a low-wage worker.
Nickel and Dimed: Introduction
A concise biography of Barbara Ehrenreich plus historical and literary context for Nickel and Dimed.
Nickel and Dimed: Detailed Summary & Analysis
In-depth summary and analysis of every chapter of Nickel and Dimed. Visual theme-tracking, too.
Nickel and Dimed: Themes
Explanations, analysis, and visualizations of Nickel and Dimed 's themes.
Nickel and Dimed: Quotes
Nickel and Dimed 's important quotes, sortable by theme, character, or chapter.
Nickel and Dimed: Characters
Description, analysis, and timelines for Nickel and Dimed 's characters.
Nickel and Dimed: Symbols
Explanations of Nickel and Dimed 's symbols, and tracking of where they appear.
Nickel and Dimed: Theme Wheel
An interactive data visualization of Nickel and Dimed 's plot and themes.
Overview
Social and economic issues
Ehrenreich investigates many of the difficulties low wage workers face, including the hidden costs involved in such necessities as shelter (the poor often have to spend much more on daily hotel costs than they would pay to rent an apartment if they could afford the security deposit and first-and-last month fees) and food (e.g., the poor have to buy food that is both more expensive and less healthy than they would if they had access to refrigeration and appliances needed to cook).
The Goal
Barbara Ehrenreich states in her book that her goal is to "see whether or not I could match income to expenses, as the truly poor attempt to do every day."
Adaptations
Ehrenreich makes an appearance in the documentary The American Ruling Class in 2007. She portrays her life undercover working as a waitress and is accompanied by a musical rendition titled "Nickeled and Dimed".
See also
• Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive (2019) by Stephanie Land, featuring an introduction written by Barbara Ehrenreich,
• Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America (2014), the debut book by Linda Tirado, a memoir about poverty in the United States
• Moral Mazes
External links
• Barbara Ehrenreich's official website