Life and Death of the American Worker

""A startling glimpse into the meatpacking industry’s abuse of undocumented and incarcerated workers."" —The New York Times Book Review ""A tour de force"" —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) ""An extraordinary feat of reporting—a gripping investigation into the brutal, often life-threatening conditions faced by America's most vulnerable workers. It's hard to imagine a more urgent or timely book, one written with rigor, deep compassion, and moral clarity. A vital, infuriating book - an absolute must-read. Highly recommended.” —BRIAN GOLDSTONE, author of There Is No Place For US “Not since The Jungle has a book punched me quite literally in the stomach like this one has. Alice Driver's invitation to sit at the table with the workers who package our dinners, who create the nuggets we hand our children in the backseats of our cars, is an unforgettable experience. Life and Death of the American Worker is a masterpiece that will be referenced for generations.” —STEPHANIE LAND, bestselling author of Maid and Class   “This is one of the most vital books of our time. An antidote to the racist propaganda behind the rise of Trumpism, Life and Death of the American Worker honors the invisibilized people who sacrifice blood and well-being to feed us, who are too often killed in the shadows by profit-hungry companies that escape accountability with the help of corrupt politicians from both political parties. Alice Driver is a rare type of journalist: one who can journey into the most bloodstained and deplorable corners of this world without getting lost in the dark. She carries the light of the victims. She'll light a fire under you. May every American read this book.” —JEAN GUERRERO, author of Crux and Hatemonger ""Alice Driver's deep dive into the lives and losses of the workers who process our food will haunt you. Meatpacking work was brutal before the COVID-19 pandemic; when the virus came, these workers were expected to volunteer to sicken and die so that Americans could keep up our meat consumption. They were called 'essential' but treated as expendable, as so much replaceable human machine equipment. In Driver's pages, their worries and fears, their pain and their care, their love and laughter and their determination to find justice remind us that no matter how much capitalism tries to reduce us to robots, humans will always find a way to resist. An essential read."" —SARAH JAFFE, author of Work Won't Love You Back “As much an act of attention and care as it is a work of rigorous investigation, Alice Driver has given us a radicalizing, clear-eyed portrait of workers and their circumstances.” —ALEJANDRA OLIVA, author of Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith and Migration