We’ve needed this book for a long time. Much has changed in the fifty years since Studs Terkel published Working, and Mark Larson explores the new world of work with the same sensitivity and patience, the same ability to lead people to revelations both bright and tragic about what their work is, what it means to them, and to all of us.”
–– Thomas Dyja, author of The Third Coast and New York, New York, New York
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Written in the tradition of Chicago great Studs Terkel, Working in the 21st Century is an expansive and impressive work of oral history that explores how Americans are struggling to make a living in a new era of upheaval. Coming to us on the fiftieth anniversary of Terkel’s Working, Larson’s Working in the 21st Century is sure to be a more than worthy followup and a modern classic in the form.
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Chicago Review of Books
Mark Larson's superb and robust oral storytelling brings new light to the life of work. His book explores the intricacies of people working in these 21st Century times and shows that while work has been transformed, it is also becoming more relevant and powerful than ever.
Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune contributing columnist & ABC-TV political analyst.
Larson succeeds in his quest to
discover how contemporary workers define themselves and their lives, and his subjects bring life to the masses of everyday workers.
Booklist
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Larson’s book is a hopeful warning, letting us see what we have done to each other and our planet, needlessly, and the cost we are paying, as a community and as individuals. [...] Larson asks more than what do you do, he asks how it makes his subjects feel, how it shaped their world, and what it all means when it is over.
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Third Coast Review