Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1Studs TerkelStuds TerkelBorn May 16, 1912In Working, the Chicago broadcaster asks people to describe what they do and how they feel about it. A copy boy, a steelworker, or a person working behind a counter gets room to set out the job in their own words. Terkel’s radio archive lets you hear him discuss how he gathered those accounts.0
  2. 2Joseph Mitchell (writer)Joseph Mitchell (writer)Born Jul 27, 1908Start with “The Cave,” Mitchell’s profile of Louis Morino, the proprietor of Sloppy Louie’s at New York’s Fulton Fish Market. Mitchell goes to the restaurant early and listens as Morino recounts his years in the seafood trade. The past and present sit side by side in a place where there’s always…0
  3. 3John McPheeJohn McPheeBorn Mar 8, 1931Uncommon Carriers follows people who move freight, from a truck driver to the crew of a towboat pushing barges on the Illinois River. McPhee spends time beside them so you can see what they have to judge in the course of a trip. Start here if you want to understand the job from the seat where it…0
  4. 4Leslie T. ChangLeslie T. ChangFactory Girls follows young women who leave home to work in China’s manufacturing towns. Chang’s reporting follows what happens around the factory too, including attempts to learn English and find a better job. It gives the workers room to have plans of their own while showing the conditions in…0
  5. 5Katherine BooKatherine BooBorn Aug 12, 1964In Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Boo follows Abdul as he sorts and sells recyclable waste near Mumbai’s airport. The work requires speed and a practiced eye, and the income matters to his family. Start there to see how the book lets a person’s daily work explain part of the neighborhood’s economy.0
  6. 6Sarah JaffeSarah JaffeWork Won’t Love You Back follows people in occupations that are often described as callings, including teachers and people working in the arts. Jaffe asks what happens to pay and working conditions when employers expect devotion. Read her when you want reporting that connects the way people talk…0
  7. 7Nell DunnNell DunnDunn worked for a time in a sweet factory after moving to Battersea. Up the Junction is fiction set in South London, and its short scenes use conversations and pieces of daily routine to show how work fits into the characters’ lives. That makes it a useful companion to interview-based accounts of…0
  8. 8John SteinbeckJohn SteinbeckBorn Feb 27, 1902The seven newspaper pieces collected in The Harvest Gypsies preceded The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck reported on migrant farm workers in California in 1936. Read the articles first if you want to see which living and working conditions he described as a reporter before he gave the subject a…0
  9. 9Gabriel ThompsonGabriel ThompsonFor Working in the Shadows, Thompson took jobs alongside immigrant workers and wrote about the physical demands of shifts in fields and factories. The book’s limits are part of what makes it worth reading: a reporter can describe what a shift asks of the body while knowing he can leave the job.0
  10. 10Florence AubenasFlorence AubenasBorn Feb 6, 1961For The Night Cleaner, Aubenas took a series of short cleaning jobs in France, including shifts on a Channel ferry. The account shows what has to happen before a shift begins when people piece together hours across jobs. It also gives readers an example of what an undercover reporter can see…0