Nomadland: surviving America in the twenty-first century
Author
Publisher
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Publication Date
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language
English
Description
From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads: migrant laborers who call themselves “workampers.”On frequently traveled routes between seasonal jobs, Jessica Bruder meets people from all walks of life: a former professor, a McDonald’s vice president, a minister, a college administrator, and a motorcycle cop, among many others—including her irrepressible protagonist, a onetime cocktail waitress, Home Depot clerk, and general contractor named Linda May.In a secondhand vehicle she christens “Van Halen,” Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects more intimately. Accompanying Linda May and others from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, then moving on to the dangerous work of beet harvesting, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy—one that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, she celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of these quintessential Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive. Like Linda May, who dreams of finding land on which to build her own sustainable “Earthship” home, they have not given up hope.
More Details
Contributors
ISBN
9780393249316
9781681687186
9780393356311
9780393249323
039324931
9781681687193
9781681687186
9780393356311
9780393249323
039324931
9781681687193
UPC
9781681687186
Table of Contents
From the Book - First edition.
Foreword
The squeeze Inn
The end
Surviving America
Escape plan
Amazon town
The gathering place
The Rubber Tramp Rendezvous
Halen
Some unbeetable experiences
The H word
Homecoming
Coda: The octopus in the coconut.
Subjects
Subjects
Business
Casual labor -- United States
Migrant labor -- United States
Nonfiction
Older people -- Employment -- United States
Politics
Recreational vehicle living -- United States
Retirees -- Employment -- United States
Retirement -- Economic aspects -- United States
Sociology
Van life -- United States
Working poor -- United States
Casual labor -- United States
Migrant labor -- United States
Nonfiction
Older people -- Employment -- United States
Politics
Recreational vehicle living -- United States
Retirees -- Employment -- United States
Retirement -- Economic aspects -- United States
Sociology
Van life -- United States
Working poor -- United States
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