The Working Poor

Invisible in America

David K. Shipler

$39.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Random House USA Inc
04 January 2005

History; Poverty & unemployment; Homelessness; Social classes; Central government policies; Industrial relations & safety; Industrial relations

"NATIONAL BESTSELLER .

From the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Arab and Jew, an intimate portrait unfoldsof working American families struggling against insurmountable odds to escape poverty.

""This is clearly one of those seminal books that every American should read and read now."" -The New York Times Book Review

As David K. Shipler makes clear in this powerful, humane study, the invisible poor are engaged in the activity most respected in American ideology-hard, honest work. But their version of the American Dream is a nightmare- low-paying, dead-end jobs; the profound failure of government to improve upon decaying housing, health care, and education; the failure of families to break the patterns of child abuse and substance abuse. Shipler exposes the interlocking problems by taking us into the sorrowful, infuriating, courageous lives of the poor-white and black, Asian and Latino, citizens and immigrants. We encounter them every day, for they do jobs essential to the American economy.

This impassioned book not only dissects the problems, but makes pointed, informed recommendations for change. It is a book that stands to make a difference."

By: David K. Shipler
Imprint: Random House USA Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 201mm, Width: 132mm, Spine: 19mm
Weight: 295g
ISBN: 9780375708213
ISBN 10: 0375708219
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 04 January 2005
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface Introduction At the Edge of Poverty Chapter One Money and Its Opposite Chapter Two Work Doesn’t Work Chapter Three Importing the Third World Chapter Four Harvest of Shame Chapter Five The Daunting Workplace Chapter Six Sins of the Fathers Chapter Seven Kinship Chapter Eight Body and Mind Chapter Nine Dreams Chapter Ten Work Works Chapter Eleven Skill and Will Epilogue Notes Index

David K. Shipler worked for the New York Times from 1966 to 1988, reporting from New York, Saigon, Moscow, and Jerusalem before serving as chief diplomatic correspondent in Washington, D.C. He has also written for The New Yorker, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of three other books Russia: Broken Idols, Solemn Dreams; the Pulitzer Prize winning Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land; and A Country of Strangers: Blacks and Whites in America. Mr. Shipler, who has been a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has taught at Princeton University, at American University in Washington, D.C., and at Dartmouth College. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Reviews for The Working Poor: Invisible in America

This is clearly one of those seminal books that every American should read and read now. -- The New York Times Book Review An essential book. . . . It should be required reading not just for every member of Congress, but for every eligible voter. -- The Washington Post Book World Sensitive, sometimes heart-rending . . . . A vivid portrait of the struggle of the working poor to acquire steady, decently paid employment. - Commentary Insightful and moving. . . . Shipler writes with enormous grace [and] he captures the immense frustration endured by the working poor as few others have. -- The Nation Welcome and important. . . . Shipler manages to see all aspects of poverty--psychological, personal, societal--and examine how they're related. . . . There is much here to ponder for conservatives and liberals alike. -- The Seattl