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Studs Terkel

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Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do Paperback – February 28, 1997

by Studs Terkel (Author)

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Studs Terkel’s classic oral history of Americans’ working lives—and the inspiration for Barack Obama’s new Netflix series about work in the twenty-first century

“Reading these stories, I started to consider my own place in the world, and understand how connected we are to one another. [Working] helped inform the choices I made in my own work.” —President Barack Obama

Perhaps Studs Terkel’s best-known book, Working is a compelling, fascinating look at jobs and the people who do them. Consisting of over one hundred interviews conducted with everyone from gravediggers to studio heads, this book provides a moving snapshot of people’s feelings about their working lives, as well as a timeless look at how work fits into American life.

Working received rave reviews upon its initial publication, including from the New York Times Book Review, which praised its “incredible abundance of marvelous beings” and “very special electricity and emotional power,” and the Boston Globe, which called it a “magnificent book . . . a work of art,” adding, “To read it is to hear America talking.”

Nearly fifty years after its initial publication, Working remains a deeply relevant American classic, one of the most important works of oral history ever published.

Print length

640 pages
Language

English
Publisher

The New Press
Publication date

February 28, 1997
Dimensions

5.25 x 1.5 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

1565843428
ISBN-13

978-1565843424
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Working:
“Magnificent . . . To read it is to hear America talking.”
—The Boston Globe

“Splendid . . . important . . . rich and fascinating . . . the people we meet are not digits in a poll but real people with real names who share their anecdotes, adventures, and aspirations with us.”
—Business Week

“The talk in Working is good talk—earthy, passionate, honest, sometimes tender, sometimes crisp, juicy as reality, seasoned with experience.”
—The Washington Post

“Reading these stories, I started to consider my own place in the world, and understand how connected we are to one another. [Working] helped inform the choices I made in my own work.”
—President Barack Obama

“I cannot find words to express sufficiently my admiration for Studs Terkel’s Working. . . . Only an interviewer of genius, exploiting the tape recorder as hardly anyone else has done, could possibly have brought it forth.”
—Lewis Mumford

About the Author

Studs Terkel (1912–2008) was an award-winning author and radio broadcaster. He is the author of Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession; Division Street: America, Coming of Age: Growing Up in the Twentieth Century; Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times; "The Good War": An Oral History of World War II; Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do; The Studs Terkel Reader: My American Century; American Dreams: Lost and Found; The Studs Terkel Interviews: Film and Theater; Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression; Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith; Giants of Jazz; Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Troubled Times; And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey; Touch and Go: A Memoir; P.S.: Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening; and Studs Terkel's Chicago, all published by The New Press. He was a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters and a recipient of a Presidential National Humanities Medal, the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a George Polk Career Award, and the National Book Critics Circle 2003 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The New Press (February 28, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 640 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1565843428
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1565843424
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.56 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1.5 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #47,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11 in Labor & Industrial Relations (Books)
- #18 in Labor & Industrial Economic Relations (Books)
- #114 in Cultural Anthropology (Books)

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Studs Terkel (1912-2008) was a free spirit, an outspoken populist, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a terrible ham, and one of the best-loved characters on the American scene. Born in New York in 1912, he lived in Chicago for over eight decades. His radio show was carried on stations throughout the country.

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4.6 out of 5

539 global ratings

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Ricardo Mio

Intriguing

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2021

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This book was originally published in 1972, and made quite a sensation. I was in college at the time, and, having worked in a gas station for five years, was intrigued. However, while I read several reviews, I never got around to actually reading the book--until now. What I found so intriguing was what Mr. Terkel did--interview a number of common Americans who worked in mostly mundane, low-paying jobs (such as I had), and, in using their own words told their story.

Louis "Studs" Terkel was a writer who liked people, especially people who worked hard for a living. Besides being one of heck of writer, he was also an actor, and radio personality. He received the Pulitzer for Literature in 1985 for "The Good War--An Oral History of World War Two". He was nicknamed "Studs" while acting in a play with another person named Louis. To keep the two straight, the director gave Terkel the nickname "Studs", after the fictional character he was playing—Studs Lonigan.

Besides interviewing common workers--coal minors, steel workers, janitors, itinerant farm workers, nurses, barbers, airline stewardesses, telephone operators, gravediggers, etc., he also interviewed people in high-end jobs--business executives, coaches, professional athletes, school teachers, lawyers, stock brokers, a studio head, and a media personality (film critic Pauline Kael). In particular, Ms Kael's comments about working people are most telling; she knew of the endless, mind-numbing hours of being a common worker, because earlier in her career she had been one. While this book is imminently quotable, I have chosen Ms. Kael's comments because they summarize best what it's like to be a bottom-level worker: "I've spent most of my life working at jobs I hated. I've worked at boring office jobs. I never felt they were demeaning, but they exhausted my energy and spirit. I do think that most people work at jobs that mechanize them and depersonalize them. . . ."

This book is endlessly fascinating, but at 589 pages takes time and patience to wade through. Still, if you've ever been a bottom-level worker, or wish to know what it's like, you will appreciate the truth that is contained in these pages. Five stars

21 people found this helpful

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OnyxPearl

Treasure

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2023

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Author signed copy from someone's personal collection...WINNING!!!

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2023

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An amazing work when the reader can sit back and appreciate what previous generations of workers went through for themselves and for their family. We owe a lot to each previous generation. Let's not lose sight of what hard, and sometimes unreciated, work means to the self.

2 people found this helpful

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Gary Schroeder

Many jobs are too small for the spirit

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2012

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Studs Terkel's classic book "Working" is nothing more than a large volume of transcribed confessions of working people. The concept is deceptively simple, but what it reveals about a common activity that unites all of humanity is often truly surprising. Do you hate your job? Guess what. Most people do! Terkel gets workers from waitresses and steel workers to dentists and ad executives to confess what's really in their souls and how they really feel about what they do to make a buck. The surprise is how universal many of the feelings we have about our jobs truly are.

One of the most striking things to me is how little has changed in the intervening 40 years since the interviews contained in "Working" were first collected. When describing work, nostalgia runs rampant among Americans. We look back longingly to the days when America was a mighty manufacturing powerhouse, when we domestically produced much of what we consume. We often think about steel or car manufacturing through a gauzy haze. "Working" clears the haze away and reveals a far less rosy truth: manufacturing work is often robotic, dehumanizing, and physically punishing. Men who do this work have no love for it and their bodies often pay a steep price for it. They didn't view it as romantic or noble then and they probably don't now. It's just a means to make a living wage.

Of the dozens (and dozens) of interviews in the book, a series of common themes are present. Here are the ones that caught my attention.

There's a recognition among long-time workers that profit is king over all. The people who produce product are mere cogs in the machine.

Everyone has a secret dream job, what they imagine they'd rather be doing, where things would be better somehow.

Even if people don't like their jobs, they're often proud of their personal ability, how fast they can complete a task, how accurately, tips they've learned through years of experience. They possess hard-won knowledge that took years to accumulate.

Laborers often see management as oppressors who play for a different team. They're to be thwarted in petty ways whenever the opportunity presents itself. It's often a game to occupy time or a way to build camaraderie amongst peers. "How can we get back at the Man?"

People recognize there own limitations and don't necessarily want to be treated as equals, but they do want to be respected, no matter what their station. They want others to recognize their value, that the product or service being offered by the company wouldn't be viable without their efforts. They know that society couldn't produce a steel beam or a car or serve hot meals to people who demand them if it weren't for them. These jobs lack status and glamour, but the world would stop without them.

The "old days" are always better, no matter what era you grew up in. Nostalgia for a better past is universal. There's a feeling that "back in my day, there was craft to the job, now work's just robotic or talentless." Also, "kids today!" and how they lack drive or commitment is a common refrain. There's nothing new under the sun.

40 years ago people were already complaining that the days of company loyalty were over, the idea that you could work for one firm for a lifetime and be rewarded or valued were a thing of the past.

Corporate life is empty, and corporate success an illusion. Big money managers are petrified of the hotshot youngster nipping at their heels, angling for their job. They worry about their age, that they're disposable once they're over 50. Executives report feeling a moral hollowness about their work. As one of the interviewees put it "in the business world, in order to do a better job, you have to become ruthless. In order to make more money, you have to care for people less. In order to succeed, you have to be willing to stab your competitor in the back."

People who have found ladder-climbing to be an empty pursuit stop hungering for status and no longer care about it. When that happens, they're free to pursue their heart's desire, or something that makes them feel like they're truly contributing to the world in a meaningful way, in a way beyond making profit for a corporation.

Many jobs are "too small for one's spirit." People need to feel challenged in order to be fulfilled. A job which is secure and pays adequately may mean complete misery if there's no challenge or sense of meaningful contribution.

125 people found this helpful

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Cheryl Zotter

Great book about working!

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023

Verified Purchase

Having my son read about different jobs.

One person found this helpful

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Amazonian

Timeless Classic

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2023

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Love this book. Seller delivered above expectations, so kudos to that. Would be a great read for all generations.

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James R Southard

More damaged than anticipated

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2024

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I knew they used book would come in “good “condition but I didn’t realize the first few pages would have water damage

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Joseph Dumas

Amazing snapshot into American Life

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020

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As expected, the book illuminates the different jobs that people have and their relationships with them. Perhaps more than ever, these are important topics as Americans look to work to fulfill a larger and larger role in their lives and their search for meaning.

Just as interesting are the interesting are the revealed attitudes about race, class, hardship, interacting with "others" and the other sensitive issues which come out in Terkel's work. The 1970's weren't really that long ago and what has changed and has not is pretty fascinating.

It's a longer book and dragged on a bit for me at the end but absolutely a worthwhile read. Especially in these Covid times, considering life of those on the other side of the 'essential worker / work from home' divide is important both for escape and introspection. 'Working' does a fantastic job of fomenting both.

2 people found this helpful

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Randy McElligott

A Turkel classic

Reviewed in Canada on October 31, 2021

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This is studs turkel's greatest work in my opinion and it is still as relevant today as it was when it was first written. The personal accounts from regular people are engaging and fascinating!!😀

洋書の友

アメリカ合衆国と人々を描く壮大な試み！！名著、No less!!

Reviewed in Japan on August 31, 2019

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どんな仕事をしているの、と尋ね、その答えを録音、活字にした、だけなのだが、それが何十、何百人となると、読者の頭の中に社会と人々の様々な生活と意見が一つの小さなピースとして次々はめ込まれ、最後には何だか大きな姿が浮かび上がって来るような思い（錯覚！？）にとらわれ、あっと驚いてしまう。ターケルさんのお得意の手法。アメリカ研究の金字塔。それに加えて、市井の人々がくだけた普通の英語で話しているので、英語表現や感覚を学ぶのにとても役立つ（受験英語を卒業した人向け、勉学推薦書No.1・・・個人の感想です）。

3 people found this helpful

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Nithy

Great, thanks for making the delivery in time.

Reviewed in India on October 25, 2016

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Great, thanks for making the delivery in time.

Dr Julian Tudor Hart

the most powerful and effective writer of the 20th century

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2013

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I'm still amazed that so few people in UK have even heard about Studs Terkel, in several ways the most powerful, original, and human writer of the 20th century. This book is as good an introduction as any, once started you will want to read more. He is the grandfather of virtually all oral historians.

Julian Tudor Hart

5 people found this helpful

walser

A fascinating read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

People saying what they think about their own lines of work, what bothers them, what makes them tick. A fascinating read.

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