Check back for more details on 2010's book!

And if you haven't read it yet, don't miss the 2009 pick:

Barbara Ehrenreich

NICKEL & DIMED

The sharpest and most original social critic goes "Undercover" as an unskilled worker to reveal
the dark side of American prosperity.




What is One Book Yuma?

A literacy and humanities program to engage our community in dialog about pertinent, topical and timely issues important to our region and the world beyond.


About the Book

When one is charged a little bit at a time until the expense grows beyond expectations, that is called being "nickel and dimed." In 2001's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, essayist and social critic Barbara Ehrenreich applies this notion to minimum-wage workers. She argues that their spirit and dignity are chipped away by a culture that allows unjust and unlivable working conditions, which results in their becoming a de facto, or actual without being official, servant class. Spurred on by recent welfare reforms and the growing phenomenon of the working poor in the United States, Ehrenreich poses a hypothetical question of daily concern to many Americans: how difficult is it to live on a minimum-wage job? For the lower class, what does it take to match the income one earns to the expenses one must pay?

Rather than simply listen to other people's accounts, Ehrenreich herself assumes the role of a minimum-wage worker. In different states and in several different jobs, she attempts three times to live for one month at minimum wage, giving up her middle-class comforts to experience the overlooked hardships of a large sector of America. While she freely admits that hers is an unusual situation, she stresses it is also a best-case scenario; others face many more difficulties in their daily lives, such as the lack of available transportation. Due to an accessible style and subject matter, Nickel and Dimed became a bestseller that helped restart dialogue on the current state of American work, American values, and the consequences of letting a national emergency remain unacknowledged for too long.



EVENTS SCHEDULE (All events free to the public)

2009 Discussions

Community Discussions:

Tuesday, October 20, 2009,
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.,
AWC-NAU Little Theatre
2020 S. Avenue 8E, Yuma

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Main Library Auditorium
2951 S. 21st Drive, Yuma

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Snider Auditorium Yuma High School
400 S 6th Avenue, Yuma

         

Featured Speakers:

 


Bill Pederson, Northern Arizona University

Captain Jonathan Harvey, Salvation Army

Maria Chavoya, Campesinos Sin Fronteras

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Myra Garlit, Crossroads Mission

Captain Jonathan Harvey, Salvation Army

Maria Chavoya, Campesinos Sin Fronteras

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Bill Pederson, Northern Arizona University

Ronna Sue Stubbs, Yuma Community Food Bank

Captain Jonathan Harvey, Salvation Army


Previous Years Titles


2008 - Enrique's Journey

2007 - They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky

2006 - The Devil's Highway

2003 - Bless Me, Ultima



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