Working in the Shadows

By: Gabriel Thompson

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Synopsis: What is it like to do the back-breaking work of immigrants? To find out, Gabriel Thompson spent a year working alongside Latino immigrants, who initially thought he was either crazy or an undercover immigration agent. He stooped over lettuce fields in Arizona, and worked the graveyard shift at a chicken slaughterhouse in rural Alabama. He dodged taxis-not always successfully-as a bicycle delivery "boy” for an upscale Manhattan restaurant, and was fired from a flower shop by a boss who, he quickly realized, was nuts. As one coworker explained, "These jobs make you old quick. ” Back spasms occasionally keep Thompson in bed, where he suffers recurring nightmares involving iceberg lettuce and chicken carcasses. Combining personal narrative with investigative reporting, Thompson shines a bright light on the underside of the American economy, exposing harsh working conditions, union busting, and lax government enforcement-while telling the stories of workers, undocumented immigrants, and desperate US citizens alike, forced to live with chronic pain in the pursuit of $8 an hour.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9781568586199
Publisher:: Perseus
Date of Addition:: 12/14/15
Copyrighted By:: Gabriel Thompson
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Business and Finance, Social Studies, Politics and Government
Grade Levels:: College Freshman
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.